


Faybelle and The Sidekick Selection

by Morieris



Category: Ever After High
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-05-12 10:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 36,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5663278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morieris/pseuds/Morieris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another bid to prepare for her destiny, Faybelle Thorn sends a want ad for an evil sidekick. Of course it doesn't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I diligently read the new books as they come out - maybe not on release day, but I always go to the bookstore and read them for a few hours.
> 
> I really liked Faybelle's characterization in Fairy's Got Talent. She has a way to go in walking the line between following her destiny and not being needlessly callous to others, but her being that way makes her fun! Some of us just can't muster the energy to put on a fake attitude when dealing with other people!
> 
> I also don't know if I really like the title. But this first chapter sits at what, 1.2k words and there are at least another 25k more in my document here, so we'll find something.

 

 _Do you want to serve? Be part of something bigger and better than yourself_ for _someone better than yourself?_

 _Do you feel like living an unusually long time?_ _Not forever, mind._

_Well, good for you and looky-loo._

_I, Faybelle Thorn, am looking for a sidekick. A Second in Command._

_REQUIREMENTS:_

  * _Magic is a must, though a concentration in Dark Magic is not required. You could never be on my level there, so why bother?_
  * _Confidentiality is a must. Be prepared to listen to thought trains if I feel you can handle it._


  * __Offer feedback on ideas - the_ right _feedback. It’s not like I can be_ wrong _, but one more confirmation that i’m right won’t go amiss.__  


  * _Must be able to come up with plans and schemes, and aid me in them._
  * _You must be subject to conditioning. No sidekick of mine will spill my secrets through magical means of torture._
  * _Will make sure my wings are in the best light during my important speeches._



   
__You will not be paid. Your payment is the glory that comes from standing in my shadow._ _

 

  Faybelle tapped the poofy end of her pen to her chin, staring at the draft in her dragon-skin clad notebook. Not bad, but something felt ... fake about it.

  When you sent out a public want ad for minions, you got riffraff. Goody two shoes desperate for a job that wasn’t turning tricks at a wishing well, or waiting for someoe to see you every seven years in a dusty attic. Her mind wandered and she remembered, quite clearly, someone her mother - The Dark Fairy - had hired when she was young. She didn’t care enough to remember her name, it was just a cleaner.

  A pixie had tried to lift a Thorn family heirloom - a simple brooch, a thing her mother hadn’t even liked - to pawn on the black market, something Faybelle knew her mother had her hand in. Even so, when she came across the offending hire trying to make past the security enchantments, The Dark Fairy had turned the pixie into a foul, inky smoke and trapped it into a bottle within moments. Then, she had shipped the bottle back to the hiring agency with a curse upon the accompanying letter. Faybelle never figured out what the curse was, but the message was clear.

  Even with the hassle of having said pixie’s union involved and the resulting media circus, Faybelle was always mindful of having the proper help surround her.

* * *

 

  Countless mental revisions later, and she still wasn’t satisfied. Faybelle circled her bullet points and closed the book, shoving it into her purse. She clawed for her Mirrorphone as she fluttered in the air, tapping the screen a few times, and calling the last person in her log.

  Leaving her room, Faybelle whacked a few small first years passing by with her wings as she dialed a number - “Beat it!”. She turned to assess them for damage as the phone buzzed - if the light even gleamed through them wrong, there would be spell to pay - and was answered.

  “Fay?”

  Faybelle grinned with relief; She wasn’t in one of her all-day dance classes. “Duchess! Where are you? ....The _Castleteria_ ? Why in Ever After would you be _there_? Whatever after, stay there, I’ve gotta ask you something. Grab me a juice? Thanks, hun.”

  She made sure the phone was securely in her bag before speeding down the hallway.While it could not have been later than ten or eleven in the morning, she found the crowds annoying. “Do any of you have a life? Just standing around in _school_?” Faybelle said. Unless she was about to perform some evil magic or a cheer routine, dealing with the happy, do-gooder crowds of Ever After High was not her style.

  A group of princesses turned to glance at her and then quickly looked away in fear when they realized who was talking. Faybelle smirked. _At least they know what's up._ Reaching a window, she unlocked it, pushed the panes outward, and sat upon the sill, facing the hallway. Without a word, she pushed off and fell, wings first, into the sky.

  “Did you see that?” She heard a faint voice yell. “That’s crazy!”

  Faybelle cackled. _You bet your wishing well it’s crazy._

  It was a weak sun today, but that only made her wings sparkle in a demure, ethereal fashion. The tall, arched windows of the Castleteria also reflected the light, and Faybelle controlled her descent, a balance between an ugly crash onto the ground and making sure the lucky students out this early could see her in her glory. The warm breeze threatened to float Faybelle over the bridge and into the Enchanted Forest, but the fairy cut her show short, pointed her wings down, and touched down lightly on the grounds.

  She couldn’t help breaking into a cheer and short routine.

_“C’mon people, let me see, if you can rule the skies like me!”_

  Even with no one in the vicinity, Faybelle smirked and basked in her accomplishment. There were no bad winds, only bad fliers.

  The Castleteria was not quite busy; It was a weekend, and plenty of students had traveled home for the weekend or gone into Book End for more edible fare. A few students idled by; The Three Little Pigs rooted through the compost bin. Nina Thumbell flew around a high plate of fruit. Dexter Charming and Hopper Croakington III laughed over pizza.

  Duchess sat by a window, picking at her pondweed salad, flipping through several hextbooks. She didn’t look up when Faybelle took a seat across from her “There’s your juice.”.

  Faybelle grabbed a thin, glass bottle of blue juice with a super curly straw and took a sip. “Could be colder.” She teased.

  Duchess rolled her eyes. “Shut up.” She looked up, flipping a book closed. “So, what’s going on?”

  After a quick dig through her purse, past emergency bottles of wing care products and lip gloss, Faybelle took out her journal and flipped to her mock-up ad.

  “I’m looking for an evil hench person.” She said cheerfully. “Someone to offer a different perspective on my evil plans, be my second in a duel - not that i’d need them there, of course! - and do the very few things I might not be able to.”

  “And...were you about to ask me?” Duchess cocked her head to the side, expression unreadable.

  Faybelle knew about her best friend’s fluctuating loyalties, smoothly dodging an awkward bullet. “What are you, nuts? You’re a princess, destined to be a queen. Somehow.” She added under her breath. “And, no offense, but turning into a bird and walking on water isn’t really _evil_.” She finished, though they both knew she was only pretending to be sympathetic.

  Smiling, the Swan Princess took a bite of her salad. “So, why are you showing me this if there’s nothing I can do about it?”

  “Now, I didn’t say _that_.” She slid the book over. “Proofread that. Does that sound like everything I should ask of someone?”

  After glancing over the notes, she girl rolled her eyes. “Well, how would I know?” Duchess replied shortly. “I’m _not_ evil!”

  Faybelle sighed. “We just went through this ten seconds ago - you’re right. You’re not evil. Got it.” Sometimes, Duchess could be really touchy. She stood up, taking back the book. “I should probably go ask Raven.” she said, hovering in the air, ready to fly.

  “Probably should.” Sniffed Duchess, taking a drink of water.

"Even though she _is_ a traitor."

"Good luck." Said Duchess pointedly. A moment later - “Fay - multihex tonight? It _is_ date night...”

  Faybelle thought about it before nodding. “Totes. I’ll bring the straws, you bring the spitwads. Those cutesy couples won’t know what hit them.”

 


	2. or, The Poor Pick of the Crop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be updated once a week. On random days. I've got enough to last at least until the first of March, and i'm always adding stuff.
> 
> I'm not sure why indentation when I copy directly to Rich Text doesn't work.

  The courtyard was rather busy, with students standing about, talking idly. A group played hacky-sack near the edge by the topiary maze, the tall figure of Cerise Hood keeping it away from the Bookball rookies. Princesses gossiped in the corner and made plans for _something inane and pointless_ thought Faybelle.

 _Maybe Raven is among this lot...and if not, might as well scope ‘em out._ Faybelle flew up into a tree, shooing away a squirrel, and surveyed beneath her.

   Within moment, Faybelle came to a conclusion: This was a variety of people and beings, magical and mundane, caught up in unimportant, short term problems.. Dating. Thronework. Hextracurriculars. None of that was a problem to her. No person at Ever After High was important enough for Faybelle to put aside her wants and ambitions. Her schoolwork was finished, as always. Cheer squad and Villain Club were a blast to do.

   She was hoping one of the milling crowd hosted a _Rebel_ , one of the degenerates who wanted to abandon their lowly destiny. So far, she had only seen rather high ranking students want to toss their past aside - actual princesses! Who would go from royalty destined to be remembered forever to the sidekick of someone who would outshine them in every aspect?

   A few members of the Villain Club were in the area. The Three Witches - Janta, Heyle, and Reysna were gathered on one end. They were glaring at Aurelia, Dawnta, and Eve, three girls who would grow to be The Mother, The Maiden, and The Crone. Oblivious to their venom, the royal sisters were harmonizing a sickeningly sweet tune in the corner of the courtyard.   _My problems are more important than your petty squabbles - one of you will end up dead anyway, and since I don’t know which one that will be, that’s a bad gamble._

   Druxon the warlock sat towering over most of the students in his letterman’s jacket, hair messily covering one eye, crouched over a portable cauldron while a ball of light bounced around his head. He was fumbling with small vials, sloppily tipping them into the small pot. _If nothing else, he can punch someone out if they run my patience short. Every ten minutes._ A small green explosion arose from the pot, startling those around him. _Explosions are a little unsubtle, but one does not become the greatest evil without adapting their methods._

   One glaring issue remained: They were villains. Antagonists, minor or major, but bad guys none the less. _Trust no one._

    would simply be more beneficial to grow someone _into_ evil than to encourage someone to give up their evil destiny. Who knows if they might make a snatch for _her_ destiny? Not on her watch; _I will destroy you if you think of laying a hand, paw, or claw on my family heritage, sidekick or not_ . Faybelle looked down her nose - both literally and figuratively - at the students below her, recognizing a handful of people - including Apple White, accompanied by Briar Beauty and Blondie Lockes. _If anyone knows where Raven is, it’s Apple._

  She dropped from the tree, slowing her descent as she landed on the cobblestones, a wave of blue light rushing out from her impact. _“Apple!_ ” She sang out, smiling sweetly at her and Briar. _Gag._

  All three girls turned to her, with Blondie taking a worried step back. “Well see you in a bit - I hope -” she stammered, fiddling with her Mirrorpad.

  “Oh, don’t run.” Faybelle rolled her eyes as she flew forward. “Quick question - have you seen Raven?”

    “She went home for the weekend. Is something wrong? What’s up?”

  “I need a few extra - preferably evil - eyes on a little project I’m doing. Actually, you just might be able to help me.” Briar crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, but Faybelle continued. “And since most of you have henchpeople -” She raised her eyebrows nodded at Blondie. “You know what makes a good lackey.”

  Apple and Briar looked at Blondie, who had a look on her face like an shocked frog. “Blondie isn’t a _lackey_ .” Briar replied in a shocked voice. “She’s our _friend!”_

  “Of course - whatever makes her feel better.” Faybelle finished in a stage whisper. “So! Any tips - ?”

  But Blondie had ran off, sobbing at the top of her voice,drawing the attention of the crowd. Apple had rushed after her, pulling tissues out of her purse. Briar shot a disgusted look at Faybelle and followed her friends. “Rude.” Mumbled Faybelle. She ignored the stares of the remaining students, took out her notebook and jotted down a single sentence;

_Getting attached to the help - bad._

 

* * *

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faybelle gets good help from a stylist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Week, everybody!

The daughter of the Dark Fairy was at her wits’ end.

She had wandered around the campus grounds, asking people with _stupid, do gooder_ destinies if they were willing to work for her. And _surprisingly,_ everyone had rejected! They looked so offended and hurt when she dropped her clincher line - “Best of all, it frees you from the mediocrity of your own story!” The last straw had been narrowly avoiding the wrath of Cooking Club as they sent a horde of snarling lemon tarts at her.

“Ridiculous.” Faybelle mumbled as she flew towards Book End. “Last time I try to do you people a favor.” She looked down; The tarts were still hopping along, their filling formed into a snarl,  and she put on a burst of speed.

On top of it all, all of this running in the humidity had ruined her hair. Normally, she wouldn’t be caught dead going to the Tower Hair Salon, but she had run out of her third bottle of hair conditioner in her extensive grooming routine and wasn’t about to chance split ends. She rode the drafts, first into Book End, then up, up, up to the biggest window of the tallest tower in town. A golden hook protruded from a few inches above the open window, and Faybelle did a quick dodge in mid air before swinging into the building.

“Hey...Poppy!” She leaned both elbows onto the counter. “Whatcha up to?”

The elder O’Hair sibling came out from a side room, wiping her hands on a towel. “Not any Forest Fest gatherings, that’s for sure.”

Faybelle turned her nose up and couldn’t help replying. “Still upset about that? Now tell me...are you, or are you not, _alive_?”

Poppy rolled her eyes. “Do you want something, Faybelle?”. Before the fairy could respond, she continued. “Well, whatever it is, give me five minutes.” She gave a half-hearted grin before walking back into the styling area.

Faybelle sighed and leaned back, flipping idly through an old copy of _Charmopolitan_ for a few minutes until the floor began to shake.

The Bog King stomped out of the room, sporting a fresh new haircut, waving back to Poppy. “You take care, Pop! I’ll have my people send that bog mud right along!” He spotted Faybelle and narrowed his eyes before taking the long walk down to Book End.

Poppy’s voice called from the back. “Come on in, Faybelle.”. Tossing the magazine aside, Faybelle entered the clean, spacious salon. The tiled stone floors had vines printed upon them in a swirly pattern. A long row of mirrors were on the far wall, with a row of arched windows on the opposite side. Further back, a shimmery purple door separated a spa. The sounds of a babbling brook could be hear; Faybelle caught a bit of _“Yep, and you know what he said after that? Well...”_

She took a seat, spinning once, twice in the chair. _Almost as good as flying._ “Do you really get so many customers?”

Poppy crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

More eye rolling and sighing. “I mean - you have, like, a dozen chairs.” Faybelle gestured to the rest of the empty salon. “And there’s only one you.”

The stylist relaxed. “Holly helps sometimes.” Snapping her fingers, a black smock floated from a coat rack and settled around Faybelle. “What do you want done?”

She reached for her Mirrorphone. “My hair’s a mess after so much running around today.” Pulling up her extensive step-by-step hair care routine and showing it to Poppy. “If you can do all that, that’d be aces.”

Poppy looked at the long list - she spotted at least twenty steps - let out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you serious? Get real, Faybelle!”

The girl sighed, “Alright, fine, just a wash and conditioner.” she replied, removing her thorny headband.

Under the warm water and Poppy’s scrubbing hands, Faybelle closed her eyes. This was a relaxing moment in a hectic day, but her big sidekick problem still loomed. She tried to loosen up and enjoy the moment, but she couldn’t help but to run through several ideas, each sillier than the last.

Something sharp was in the air. Sniffing appreciatively, Faybelle opened her eyes, “That smells good. Mint?”

Poppy nodded, “Midnight Mint. You know, your hair is really beautiful - and you take good care of it. Most people don’t and expect me to pull a miracle out of my .... bag.”

A few minutes later, Poppy left Faybelle sit with the conditioner in her hair for a few minutes. _More planning time._

“Rah rah, come on, think,” She mumbled, “While your head is in a sink.” Blackmail was an option, but most people were instantly guarded if Faybelle lurked nearby. She couldn’t get near enough to overhear a spelltacular secret, let alone gain someone’s trust. Taking a first year student under her wing? _I’m not about that ‘big sister’ crap. Maybe I_ should _just set out a flyer..._

She heard Poppy’s heels on the floor again. “You ready for rinsing?”

“Poppy, I’m going to ask you something - mind if I put a want ad on your bulletin board?” Digital want-ads floated upon a magic screen in her wait room. There were plenty of ads for toadstool cultivating, lost phoenixes, and pleas for the extermination of a fire-breathing chicken.

She shrugged. “Meh. Sure. What’s it for?”

Faybelle hesitated. “I’m in the business for a sidekick. You get all sorts of randoms in this place, some of them have to want to improve their sad little lives.”

A snort. “All right. Let me get this off of you and you can show me your ad.”

Back in the spinning chair with newly washed and conditioned hair, Faybelle sat beneath a circular device that floated around her head, gently dispelling nearly-hot air. She pulled out her ledger and flipped to the correct page, holding it out. “Here.”

She watched as Poppy read the page. First, her expression was curious. Confusion was next. Then it slid into disbelief. _Oh boy, here we go_. Faybelle thought, as Poppy’s final expression was one of a cocked eyebrow and an upturned mouth. Finally - amusement. “Well?”

Poppy chuckled. “Well indeed!”

“Let me have it! Will you take it or not?”

Poppy ran a hand through her hair, laughing. “Listen, Faybelle - are you serious about having a sidekick?”

“Do you think I’m doing this for fun?”

“Kinda...I mean, look at this list! You’re belittling people before they even apply!”

She crossed her arms and fluttered her wings. “They’d better get used to it.”

Poppy waved her hand dismissively. “C’mon, you won’t get any help that way. It’s like my Nona always says - ‘ _You can catch more bugbears with honey than with peppermint syrup_ ’.”

Faybelle stared at her blankly. “Whatever after.” She mumbled. “Will you put it up or not?”

“I could...or.” She had a smirk on her face.

This was taking forever. _Just put the stupid sheet on the wall!_  " _Or_ what? Can you spit it out?”

“I can revise it for you. Make it seem more .... welcoming. So someone might _actually_ apply.”

 _Godmother, what’s with all this ‘helping me’...._ “Don’t you have work to do? I mean,” Faybelle laughed lightly. “You’re a _hairstylist_ , not a teacher.”

“I try to do a lot of stuff. Hairdresser, glow worm breeder, cooking by dragonfire...proofreader. I can’t be my mother.” A few quick blinks.  “So, how ‘bout it?”

She shrugged and passed Poppy a pen. “Thanks, I guess. Keep the emphasis on _magic conditioning_ , will ya?”

“Faybelle, I don’t think anyone wants to read ‘You’re going to be tortured and not even get paid for it’. How about...’Will be tested for endurance’? Also - you’ll probably need a good notetaker and auditor, let me add that in...Sound good?”

A thought struck her. “Do you ever have helpers around here? Besides Holly.”

“Eh, super occasionally, like, I don’t even _remember_ the last time....Let me see...” She put a finger to her temple, tapping away. “There were a few Spellementary students on a career day week.” Poppy caught on to the unanswered question. “They swept up spare hair, handed me supplies, stuff like that. I’d ask their opinion on an option or style after asking the customer. Some light clerical work - but normally it’s quicker if I just do it myself instead of teaching someone my quirks. That answer your question?”

Faybelle nodded. “Not really in my line of work, but I get it. I guess they’ll be handling some magic props and potions if I have to practice. Also; Double check, make sure I’m wearing clothes conductive for transferring magic - the wrong material can get a spell stuck on me, and what kind of spellcaster is that?”

After another twenty minutes of proofreading, Poppy had stripped away the ‘personal touches’ and wrote clearly onto a fresh page of parchment;

 _HELP WANTED;_ _  
_ _Magical assistant needed._

 _Must:_ _  
_ _Swear loyalty to Faybelle Thorn, be by her side in any endeavor she asks of you, a competent thinker, semi-capable magic user (dark magic not a must, but a plus), good note taker. Contract to last for one school year, with possible extensions._

 _Name:_   
_year:_   
_Fairytale story (if applicable):_   
_Magic experience?:_   
_Hextracurricular activities:_   


_Contact through school email only._

It wasn’t fancy, and took out a lot of Faybelle’s personality, but no need to hit them with all of her glory at once and scare them away. “Spelltacular.”

Poppy went to her bulletin board, put the paper into a small scanner beside it. Pressing some buttons, in a few moments, the ad appeared on the screen. “You want some embellishments on it? I can put some magic sparkles.”

Faybelle pretended to think about it. “Eh, why not. And make it bigger. And the background stark white and the text a black fading into teal. Make the header flash. Or bigger and sparkly is fine. ” She shrugged, as Poppy shot her a look.

Neatly replacing her headband, she went to the register and swiped her credit card, scribbling an amount onto the attached touchpad. Poppy squinted at the number, “That’s way too much, a wash and condition is only about -”

“I know how much it is...” Her wings twitched. “But you helped me. That’s what people _do_ , right? Pay people who help them?”

Poppy shrugged. “I...guess so.” She smiled. “Thanks!” It would be enough to treat Holly to a bit of takeout that night. She tapped a few more options on the magic screen. “I’ve sent the file of the flyer to your phone.”

Faybelle had leaned out of the window, ready to fly. She turned back and saluted Poppy with two fingers. “Thanks, a bunch, O’Hair.” She said quickly, before diving out of a window yet again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Dragon Games day everyone! ... if you have access to Netflix somehow. That's why this is short, your mind is going to be occupied today!

Perched near the forest boundary of Book End, the Multihex theater was big and luxurious. While the lobby and bathrooms were inside a plush interior, seven of the theater’s twenty one stadiums were outside, under fairy lights and a thick canopy of trees. Perfect for cozy dates and the people who threw popcorn at them.

Faybelle and Duchess were standing in line for popcorn, drinks, and sour frog gummies. The place was packed, with a lot of friends and couples, talking in anticipation about the flicks to come. “Did you get your want ad fixed up?” Asked Duchess, sniffing the air. “Mm, you smell good.”

“Thanks,” Faybelle pulled her ponytail to her face and took a deep sniff. Several hours later, and the mint still remained. “and yeah, I did - I gotta find - what’s her face - whoever runs this shindig”. Magical bulletin boards were everywhere in Book End, and there was one just to the right of each hallway that flanked the concession stands. “I’m really going all out for this thing, Duch.”

“Is this going to get between us doing our thronework together?” She pouted.

“We’re only in Crownculous and Home Evilnomics  together.” Faybelle pointed out, as they took a step closer to the counter.

“Yeah, but I enjoy the study sessions.” She smirked, causing Faybelle to flush and purse her lips in an attempt to not grin.

After a few minutes, they were loaded with a variety of snacks. Duchess spotted a head of unkempt, dark brown hair walking towards the box office. “There she is - catch up with me, okay?” She said, taking the popcorn. “I’ll get seats and extra napkins.”

“I’ll get extra straws!” Faybelle waved as she went after the Movie Witch. She may have knocked some popcorn out of hands with her wings, but she didn’t care enough to look back.

Morven was a distant cousin of Ginger Breadhouse, but instead of bringing people together with sweets, she brought them together with the movies she showed. A third year student at the school with an ordinary destiny as a nameless witch in a minor tale, she put her magic towards the sound and visuals of the motion picture. She even slept in the attic of her beloved theater instead of a dorm room. Faybelle liked her more than she liked most people - she understood the witch’s devout dedication to being the best at her craft, even if it was at something mostly pointless.

Her brown hands fumbled at one of the many lanyards burdened with keys around her neck when Faybelle tapped her on the shoulder, “Morvie!”

She jumped, turning around in shock, frowning, she said.  “Oh - Faybelle. Nice to see - wait, is something wrong?”

“Eh? I ... don’t think so - ?”

“It’s theater five, isn’t it? Is it still playing the wrong trailers? I organized them myself the second time -” She made a move to dart off.

“No!” Faybelle put both hands on her shoulders. “Morven. Chill out. Nothing’s wrong ... that I know of.” She added quietly to herself. “I just need you to put up an ad on the bulletin for me.”

The witch stopped and sighed with relief. “Yeah, no problem. Send it to my Mirrorphone.” She turned to face the door again.

“It’s very important - I’m looking for a sidekick, more or less.” Faybelle took out her phone and ran through the procedure. 

“Cool.” Morven was only half listening, still juggling with the keys. “No one wants to serve under wicked royalty like those of us swept up into fake lives, am I right?” an edge to her voice.

Oblivious, Faybelle continued. “Exactly! It’s something straight out of a movie.”

“Something that also happens;” Morven looked up through her round, blue glasses. “You might be betrayed in an epic confrontation...like the one about to happen.” Finding the right key, the girl ducked into the box office quickly.

Faybelle turned around to see a tall wood spirit, all birch limbs and long, tangled green hair, stomping over to her. In her wake, a small child cried, covered in sticky soda, and she looked spellbent on telling her off. Faybelle ducked into a nearby group, cloaking herself with an invisibility spell.  She took off into the air and sped down the middle hallway where her movie was showing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Faybelle finds someone. But not quite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whyyyy doesn't indentations work when I copy and paste into this thing? :/

The ad had been placed everywhere Faybelle could think of - the dance studio, the Once Upon Times, even the town crier was coached to yell her message. After three days, word had spread quickly, and to her surprise, a fair amount of inquiries had come into her mail. One girl who showed promise was Thea Bell, more than likely the daughter of Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.  When her email reply went unanswered for two days, she set about finding her before cheer practice - instead, she had ran into her posse.

One of the fairies - _Fritta? Fretta?_ \- elbowed her way to the front. “I can’t believe you’re replacing us.”  
“I know!”  
“Are you really? Oh no!”  
“So not cool.”

“Girls.” Faybelle held up a hand. “I could _never_ replace you! Who would be my best cheerhexers, my greatest support squad, bring me mocha frappuccinos - by the way -” Immediately, each girl had a fancy coffee drink in her hand. Faybelle pretended to think about it, and took the one from - _Shana? Skyla? No, I’m almost forty-percent sure it’s Swirsa_ \- and sipped at it.

“None of you truly have an evil bone in your bodies.” _Shallow and petty, yes, but not mean._ “I need someone to _really_ help me be the greatest evil I can be. Normally, it _would_ be one of you - but then the rest of you are left out in the cold. So, this is really for _your_ benefit.”

There was a beat. Then a flood of responses.

“Oh, yeah!”  
“That makes sense.”  
“Of course it does - Faybelle said it.”

With the uprising quelled, Faybelle rallied them all to  the field, whooping and cheering as they flew in formation out of the school.

 _“We are Ever After High!_  
_We are gonna fly, fly, fly!_  
_Come on down, feel free to shout!_ _  
_ Watch our magic knock you out!”

* * *

 

“Passable job, team!” Nina and Ashlynn high fived each other; Coming from Faybelle, that might as well have been _Outstanding, stupendous work!_ “I’ll call it a day, same time day after tomorrow! I got stuff to do.” She mumbled, prepared to fly back to her dorm and shower.

“Faybelle!” _Oh, godmother_ , she thought, which was an ironic choice of words. Farrah Goodfairy fluttered over. “For your want ad  -”

“No thanks, Farrah, I’m good.” She said through gritted teeth. “I’m looking for this girl - Thea Bell -”

Farrah nodded. “You’re welcome. I mean, she _is_ just right over there -” She said, pointing. Turning quickly, she saw two figures in the distance - the only other people not on a track or field playing a game.

Faybelle nodded and flew as fast as her wings would allow, almost skidding to a stop. The girl named Thea Bell was sitting besides Druxon, both of them staring down a huge book of spells. “See...now put dragonfly blood with fairy dust and one damned soul - here -” She went to dig in her pocket and spotted Faybelle.

“ _Oh my godmother_ -” Thea jumped up and gave an awkward smile and a half curtsey. Faybelle tried to smile warmly, but it wasn’t something she did often enough, so it came off as condescending. Thea had pale skin with an olive undertone, and straight, black hair in a high ponytail. Her purple eyes were elongated. Her wings were a transparent violet, and pulsed as if light was _within_ them. A bone white vest was over her short sleeved, silver top. Shiny black leggings were tucked into tall deep purple boots. _I like her style._

“I couldn’t reply to your email - i’m locked out of my account for coin-mining on the MirrorNet - but I’m supes interested in the job!”

 _Supes_. Faybelle’s mouth twitched and she almost burst out laughing.

“You’ve got to be available to me at all times,” She said coldly. “This isn’t looking good so far...but I’ll let it pass.” She added a half smile before looking over to Druxon and nodding in greeting.

Thea saw this, “You know each other?” There was a jealous edge to her voice and a new glint in her eye.

“Villain Club.” Grunted Druxon, “Bookball games.”

The glint was gone. “Well, that’s all right then.” She winked knowingly at Faybelle. “Girlfriend problems, you know.”

 _I don’t._ “You’re rather tall for a daughter of Tinkerbell.” Faybelle noted. Thea wasn’t any taller than most other girls at Ever After High when they took off those high heels; She was intentionally being rude.

Thea shrugged off the comment. “I won’t shrink until later - much later, I hope!” She put her hands in her vest pockets awkwardly. “It’s short notice - but - you want to talk at Hocus?” Hocus Lattes, the hottest spot in town for a Fairy Drop Macchiato.

“You read my mind. Good job - meet me in an hour.” And with those parting words, Faybelle crouched, twisted, and flew up and away to the dorms.

At the cafe, Faybelle was running Thea through her list of requirements. The two sat in a pair of over stuffed, comfortable chairs.

“Obviously you’re magical,”  Said Faybelle, “But what is it that you _do_?”

Thea clapped her hands giddily. “Oh! Well....” She closed her eyes, and with a great flash, she turned into a little orb of yellow light with clear wings. Her tiny voice came from the orb, which pulsed with purple at every syllable “See! Pocket Assistant!”

Faybelle had to admit, that was fairly impressive. She herself was volumes from turning into a dragon. “Cool,” She said evenly. “Can you actually _cast_ magic?”

Thea looked from side to side, nodding her head, bobbing her shoulders. “Uhm, not without fairy dust. And even then, I have to be close enough to spread it on the thing in question. Then it’s... a bit hard to explain.” She reached for her shoulderbag, pulling out a thick notebook. “ _However_ , I am super, amazingly, meticulous in my notes! _Amazeticulous_ ! Here,” She opened a random page and Faybelle could immediately see the topic; _Cultivating Fairy Dust From Bogs, Marshes, and Swamps._ A variety of sticky notes jutted from the sides.

Faybelle nodded in appreciation; While her own notes were written neatly enough, she had always wanted them indexed and converted to a e-reader compatible format. Thea was a bit hoppy and overeager, and she continually said stupid words, but her magic abilities so far amounted to basically magician tricks. _Not a real threat there_ . “I’ve seen enough. We’re going to the magic dungeons - you’re going to _show_ me what’s so _hard to explain_.”

The other fairy clapped enthusiastically. “Oh, goody!” Taking Faybelle’s hand, she stood up and dragged her through the cafe, talking at light speed.

Startled, Faybelle drew her hand back sharply. “Hey - _you_ don’t run this operation. _I_ do. Don’t forget it.”

Thea smiled apologetically and wrung her hands. “Yeah - yeah - sorry!” She stiffened to what one would call a proper pose, “After you, mistress.”

Upon reaching the door, Faybelle opened it quickly and looked around inside. Emptiness. Good, she didn’t want third parties to sway her decision one way or the other or make Thea even more nervous.

The magical test was ... strange. Thea’s own brand of fairy dust, sprinkled over an elf dummy, twitched and possessed it. With a wide variety of flourishes, gestures, and arm waving, she manipulated the dummy to walk and wave. A bit of extra effort strained on her face as she pumped in more magic caused it to rise sloppily in flight. _Interesting idea. I’ll have to see if I can do that - better, of course._

“I’m trying to make fairy dust bombs to throw - Are you watching?” Thea said, hovering an inch from the ground. “You gotta be watching!” Behind her, Faybelle rolled her eyes but continued to stare. Still manipulating the first dummy, Thea floated over to another, sprinkling more dust, causing it to float as well. Soon, the pair of fake elves were dancing about in the air. Channeling her energy through the first one, she even cast a spell that ripped the second one in half. Faybelle had to admit, that was cool.

After a short time - _Too short_ \- the fairy dust began to wear off. Once bobbing merrily from side to side, the head went limp first. Thea noticed this and quickly tried to egg it back forward with more magic, but she was quickly being depleted. Faybelle hovered lazily in the air, spinning around the now erratically jerking doll, one cool eye on Thea - who was rapidly losing control.

With a great cry, the girl released the magic, a small blizzard of cotton and material now flung to the far reaches of the room. The doll had exploded, its remains sparking gently with purple magic. She crashed to earth in a tired heap, panting, her wings limp. “It’s taxing,” Thea said, between great gasps of air, “but I’d rather stick to magic theory and spells anyway.”

“If it makes a difference,” She added quickly, now registering the coolness of Faybelle’s gaze. “I have poisoned rabbits with no trace of my foul play.”

Faybelle threw her hands up. “Whatever after,” She said, tired of this girl. “That was okay.”

Thea’s eyes lit up. “Really! So I have the job?”

“No! Or, not quite yet. Other candidates you know. The person I pick has to be competent and gel with me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got you -” Thea jumped to her feet. “You’ll tell me your decision when you make it, yeah? Even if it’s not me.” Her eyes sparkled knowingly, baffling Faybelle.

Showing no trace of noticing, she shrugged. “Sure. I’ll make it public.” She made her way out of the classroom.

“ _Becaaaause_...I’m available five days out of the week. Or whenever you call! I’ll be there.” Thea was right behind her, flying closely, staring her down.

“That’s great - no, you know what?” Faybelle grit her teeth and turned to her. “Number one; back up.” She pushed her back with a single hand. “Next - if you think you’re pressuring me into anything, look at that crap behind you - you couldn’t even possess an inanimate object for the time it takes me to _brush my teeth_ , let alone take _me_ on. So thanks,” Her voice turned sugary sweet. “But no thanks, hun.” Grinning, she lazily floated away, up the stairs and around the corner.

The sound of furiously tinkling bells was behind her, as well as rapid flashes of light. Thea had turned into her light ball form in a tantrum, emitting high pitched curses upon the House of Thorn.

Faybelle laughed maliciously. _You wish. Anyone working with me - they have to be cool under pressure...I guess the only thing you control is your boyfriend, hun._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! Page 20! Only...well, 51 more to go!

Back in her dorm, Faybelle spun around in her white leather chair, leaning back, petting Spindle. Turning to her computer, she navigated to her school inbox to select another potential sidekick. Opening each email individually and pointing her fingers at a nearby quill, she said a cheer;

_ “Pen of writing, fair and light, pick me a minion who may be right!” _

Floating in the air, the pen spun around the screen for a moment before slowing...slowing...stopping on the son of the Bear family.

Gruffton Bear had applied - not a villain, but not quite a hero. Just a young cub who found Goldielocks sleeping in his bed - but that was enough to put the family decently on the list of Fairy 500 - the yearly list that ranked the most important tales. While Poppa and Momma Bear worked at the school as teachers, back home, with their quaint cottage in the Far Forests, they had a booming honey factory, often supplying Red Riding Hood with raw stuff for her treats. His credentials looked okay - sniffing out an intruder within seconds, a roar that could shatter magical barriers and shield, and, at almost 7 feet tall, brute strength.

Faybelle sent him a quick hext message;

_ [xxDark_Faybellexx]: Faybelle Thorn here. You applied for my sidekick; I’ve got time to interview you right now _ .

Back on her computer, she added sources to a bibliography for a Home Evilnomics paper. Not that she had read them beyond the necessary information. “Because my time is valuable, i _ sn’t that right, Spindle?” _ Faybelle cooed at her puppy. Soon that turned into rolling a ball back and forth among the ground, watching as the little dog tumbled after it.

Her MirrorPhone buzzed with a reply.

_ [FurryRoad]: Sure  - in Tower Salon. redoing My Mohawk. cn tale there-  Ok w/ you? _

Faybelle rolled her eyes - both at returning to the salon and Gruffton’s casual text manner. She would have to magic that out of him. 

_ [xxDark_Faybellexx]: Sure. Five minutes. _

Of course, she would take fifteen minutes - what did she look like, rushing to meet the help? 

Faybelle took the stairs to the Tower Hair Salon this time - not physically, of course, she hovered over the stairs. She looked at all the portraits of famous characters as she ascended. The walls alternated between minor characters on the right, major ones on the left. 

Cerise’s mother - Aliza Hood, who started her story the hour she graduated. That particular story was different - Red Riding Hood had stayed in the wood for a week. Her grandmother was worried, her mother even more so. She had resurfaced, unharmed, just as cheerful and adventurous as ever. Here her picture stood; The tall figure standing in the forest in her  iconic hood, the basket full of treats loosely on her arm.

A lady with a wild mass of hair held a bundle of sunflowers, her face tanned from the sun. Jonquil Izama-Lockes was a legend in her own neighborhood, from running and organizing garage sales to having the best flower and produce garden outside of a story book. The neighborhood seemed too saccharine for Faybelle’s taste, but there was always a waiting list for houses there.

Briar’s mother - Queen Rosalind, wearing an 80’s glam rocker jacket with giant red roses on the shoulders between the spikes. She sneered at the photo.  _ You want to get your girl back on track, maybe?  _ But in spite of herself, she smiled. Despite Briar going ‘Rebel’, Faybelle wasn’t as angry with her as she was with Raven. Sleeping Beauty was a pretty boring tale. Sleep, frolick, sing. The beauty herself could any girl, lying in wait to be cursed by -

The Dark Fairy. Queen Diamynis. The long silvery-white hair, cascading down her right shoulder. The sparkling white Empire cut dress. The dragon-cuff earring that shimmered and changed from midnight black to a watery opal - Faybelle could almost see it shifting on her mother’s pointed ears.. Dark teal eyes at odds with the demure image, smouldering with anger and power. Faybelle swallowed, suddenly nervous. “I’m making you proud, Mom.” She whispered. 

The tower certainly was high.  _ Good thing I’m not walking. _ When the door was in sight, Faybelle looked at the last picture on the wall. Primrose “Rapunzel” O’Hair - Holly and Poppy’s mother. In contrast to the other photos, the picture was blown up, in a grainy black and white. She was leaning out of her tower, long hair flowing down. A big grin on her freckled face, she was waving to whoever took the picture, looking far younger than the current portraits on the wall. _ That must have been taken the day they locked her away _ \- everyone else’s portraits were more or less from the present day.  _ Is she still there?  _

The door suddenly opened, causing Faybelle to ascend with shock, hitting her head on the ceiling. A gaggle of sheep came out, smelling like fresh grass, with fancy ornaments in their wool. Lily Bo-Peep trailed them, pointing forward with her staff. 

Poppy stuck her head out behind them. Today her hair was spiked up, the purple replaced with an electric blue. “Tell Shearson to stay away from the briar thickets!” she called out, “If it happens again, it’s a  _ total _ shave!” she looked up to see Faybelle. “Back again, I see.” There was a smirk to her voice. 

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Rubbing her head, Faybelle floated down to earth.

“Why not take the window again?”

“I like to switch it up. Anyway, I’m here to see Gruffton Bear.”

She stepped aside and held the door open “Better get in here, then.” The salon hadn’t changed much in the days since Faybelle’s last visit. There were more people sitting in the chairs with a small number of assistants running about, releasing magical rollers into hair or applying dye. “Furthest back!” Poppy rushed off to tend to spilled dye..

It was hard to miss Gruffton Bear. Brown fur, a tattered black vest, various spiked bracelets, and a half-foot mohawk in  bright green. A pixie fluttered around said mohawk, applying dye in minute strokes with a tiny brush. He swiveled to meet Faybelle, causing the little pixie to be flung across the room.

“Oh - honeypot -” turning, he quickly helped the pixie up, it climbing onto his massive paw. “My bad. That happens a lot.” The pixie shakily took to the air again.

“Well, it better not happen to me.” Faybelle deadpanned. “So, Gruffton - why should I consider you.”

“Just Gruff please, Miss Faybelle.” He knew his superior immediately - good.

“Okay - Gruff - what can you do for me?” 

“I’ve got a sonic roar - I could shatter every window in this tower, and I haven’t seen the barrier yet that can stop me.” He bared his teeth.

“Nice.” Unlike her mother, Faybelle wasn’t averse to making a mess when the need called for it. Leaving visible ruins in her wake only served to show her determination and power on the way to her ultimate goal. Turning her head, she cocked an eyebrow. “You look like you fight people. Physically, I mean.”

Gruff cast his eyes down, clacking his long claws together. “Er, well, no -” 

Uh-oh. “Are you  _ willing _ to?” 

Poppy came over, finished with her chore. She sat in a chair and watched the interview. “You got this, Gruff.”

He nodded, half-heartedly. “First time for everything, I could give it a go -”

Faybelle sighed, standing up. “No you couldn’t.” She knew a pacifist when she saw one and she was not  about to waste her time.

“No - Miss Faybelle, please. Let me try. I need this job. My parents are threatening to cut my allowance.”

“My heart bleeds for you,,” She said sarcastically, and extended her hands in question. “Well, who can we find to wrestle a nearly grown bear?”

“A dragon!” Blurted Poppy. Everyone turned to her. “Well, either that or a troll, and we can find a dragon way easier than a troll - oh, but what will Momma and Poppa Bear think?” She asked Gruff.

His eyes darted toward her nervously. “I’ll...tell them it’s wrestling?” 

“No,” Interjected Faybelle. “I won’t allow this. You’re not going to tell them a flying feathered thing.”

Poppy pulled a face. “Don’t you think he should -”

“He’s a big boy, Pops.” She replied, floating up and patting him on the shoulder. “He can make his own decisions.  Now, let’s see where I can find a would-be Evil Queen with a dragon....”

The trees swayed gently in the wind in the park nearby Cobbler’s Alley. Faybelle hovered in large circles above, looking for Raven and Nevermore. Gruff and Poppy (Who was just  _ so _ curious how everything would go down that she took her break early) lay on the grass, staring at the sky. No one else was within sight.

“Maybe you should warm up or something, dude.” Said Poppy, one eye closed lazily. Gruff sat up, arms raised forward, and tried halfheartedly to touch his feet. Faybelle landed lightly beside him, looking him over again.  Detaching a vial from her belt, she sprayed her wings with sun lotion. She would let no one else touch them - not even whatever sidekick she picked - unless it was the family doctor.

Leaning back, watched the floating clouds above, regretting that she wasn’t flying among them, enjoying the not-yet-fallen rain that chilled her wings. They weren’t often low enough for her to do that unless she and her mother vacationed high in the mountains, to The Four Winds Resort, where it was constantly breezy. A day of flying, dipping in and out of mist, coaxing black lightning from the chemicals componets in the air in addition with their music, frightening the skiiers and snowboarders on the slope, her mother always cool, collected, and in control of everything.  _ I’m trying my best, Mom, but look what I have to work with. _

Her thoughts were broken by a shadow floating  across them - something was flying in the clouds. Sitting up, she looked around to see Poppy also looking up, Mirrorphone hurriedly snapping pictures, and Gruff, looking as if he would be sick. “I think we’d better back up.” Poppy said, putting down her phone and moving back. The other two hurriedly followed.

The clouds broke, and a huge purple shape descended. Nevermore had lilac scales with a black stomach and blue eyes. Silver spikes went from the crown of her head, down her back and ended on her tail tip. If Gruff was almost seven feet, then Nevermore had to be at least ten from snout to tip. Raven jumped down from her dragon, “Hey, Poppy, Faybelle.” She looked at the shaking bear, “Is...he gonna be okay?”

“He’s fine,” Faybelle slapped a hand on Gruff’s shoulders in an attempt at camaraderie, but it only served to jolt him. “Let’s get fighting!”

Raven rolled her eyes. “You’re  _ welcome _ , Faybelle. It’s not like I cut a lunch date with Cedar short for this.”

“Yeah - thanks.” She said quickly. Rising into the air, she raised her arms, adapting an announcer’s voice. “And in this corner! The Bear Brawler, The Horrible Honey Eater -” 

“Faybelle! Hold on! Good Godmother -” Raven turned to Nevermore, who was looking at the group curiously. Pointing to Gruff and back to Nevermore, she nodded, and made a motion with her hand. The dragon’s scales shimmered, and she shrunk down, exactly to the bear’s size.  Behind her, Gruff quietly went “Is that a thing that just happened right now?”

Poppy stepped up before Faybelle could start shouting again. “I think we’d better establish some rules.” She said quickly. 

Faybelle clenched her fists. “Ugh! There are no rules in dark magic combat! This isn’t your galavant Bookball crap -”  

“Faybelle Thorn, do you really want to be responsible if this kid breaks his neck?” Said Poppy, hands on her hips, glaring up at her. Gruff was looking more and more frazzled, his mohawk shaking in fear.

The fairy crossed her arms and shrugged. “It just isn’t  _ realistic _ ...” She pursed her lips as everyone turned toward her. “but I see your point.”

Poppy smiled at the dragon. “Alright - Nevermore? I think it’s fair if you don’t breath fire.”

“Evil dragons will breath fire.” Mumbled Faybelle. Everyone ignored her.

“And no magic. You too, Gruff. No supersonic - ” Poppy continued, turning to the bear - who was shaking even harder now. “Are you okay?” 

“I....”, he turned and ran away on all fours, shouting “Sorry, Miss Faybelle!” behind him, in a haste to get away. “I-I’m gonna stick to the family business!” The sound of his retreat was still loud in their ears.

A pause. Then - “That is just  _ it _ !” Fed up, the girl began to break into a cheerhex, stomping her feet on the ground, waving her arms;

_“I thought you might have been the one,_ _  
__but now, you’ll never even -”_

She stopped as the growing bolt of magic in her fingers was stopped. “What’s going on - ” 

Raven had her hands out, casting a spell that dissipated an opponent's magic. 

“Faybelle, let him go. Your way isn’t for everyone.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” She snapped. “You can cast that magic on me but you haven’t got the guts to do it where it matters! Maybe if you stopped doing party tricks and do gooder nonsense, you wouldn’t wreck things for everyone else.”

Raven stopped, the magic slowly fading from both her and Faybelle’s hands. Without a word, she raised Nevermore back up to her full size, jumped on her back, and took off into the sky. The remaining girls watched as they flew away, back over the clouds, to the animal 

“What the spell was  _ that _ about?”  Exploded Poppy. “She was just trying to help you and make sure you didn’t go seriously off the book and  _ incapacitate _ another student!”

Faybelle sneered. “Who is she to stop someone from being _ off the book _ .” She wasn’t going to  _ hurt _ Gruff. Just put an annoying limp in his footpaw for a few weeks.

“You know, you are never going to find a sidekick with such an unyielding attitude. You have absolutely no compassion or understanding of others.” She gave her a long, hard look. “You’re lucky it wasn’t me trying to stop you, I would have just shoved you.”

Normally, Faybelle would have told her about  _ compassion _ and  _ understanding _ , how so many people wanted it for the basic task of existing, how she didn’t express kindness unless someone had earned it -  and very few people did. She was trying to find a hard thinker, a tough fighter, a professional companion. Not a life partner. 

And yet she knew that Poppy was right. A single nod, a glance to the right. “I guess. I thought it would be easier, but my godmother, everyone has some glaring flaw. This dude is a coward, Bell was an overeager micromanager -”

“Hold up -  _ Thea Bell _ ?” Poppy shuffled from foot to foot.. “I hate to gossip...but I could have told you not to interview Thea.” There was a wicked gleam in her eyes.

“Oh?” Faybelle pretended to be disinterested, but she watched Poppy curiously.

“A micromanager. Every time I cut her hair, it takes about two hours because she thinks she’s more capable.” She laughed, starting to walk into town. “Then she’ll storm off, cut it herself, and come back a week later after it’s grown out all awkward and ask me to cut it -”

Faybelle took to the air, following her. “To her specifications, I bet.” 

“Yep!” Poppy glanced up at her. “How many applicants do you have?”

“Off the top of my wings....” She tapped her face with a long finger in thought. “after Cowardly Lion and Temperbell, maybe another twenty people.” She glanced suspiciously at Poppy. “Why?”

“I’d be willing to glance over your applicants with you - chances are, I’ve met everyone in this area at least once. And done their hair, nails, or fur.” 

“Really?”

A shrug. “If you want. But - I gotta get back to the salon. I’ve been away way too long - Shoot me a hext if you want -”

Something Baba Yaga told her floated to her consciousness;  _ Everyone, even villains, accept help sometimes. You can’t go at it alone one hundred percent _ .

Faybelle thought on this as she watched Poppy O’Hair race down the hill, holding her bag to her side.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact; I've actually completed the story! Hooray! So ... that's that. Might update twice a week now if editing permits. As always, thanks for reading!

The Mouse House was the newest restaurant in Book End. Chipped away from a literal hole in the wall, it was a crumbling stone cave that sold soups, sandwiches, and wraps. The walls were full with haphazardly hung portraits of a mouse family, with painted lines that imitated a subway route, with names of cities written around them.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how subway lines work.” Murmured Faybelle, reading the wall.  _ Fable Heights, Upper Beast Side, Shibooya? _ Those can’t have been real places. With an  _ A _ in Geografairy, she knew what was real and what wasn’t.

Poppy laughed. “Well, I think it’s just charming.” 

_ Of course you do.  _ Faybelle had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

Poppy looked around at the hostess stand, which was a giant grandfather clock with a flat piece on the top.  “Um, hello?” 

A small squeak sounded. Faybelle and Poppy gathered their faces close to the stand to see a small brown mouse. “Evening, ladies.” He was dressed with a tiny bowtie and newsboy cap. “Feel free to sit anywhere, someone will be with you in a moment.”

Into the dimly lit seating area, the two decided on a booth. The Mouse House was a place where all the foodstuffs had punny names, and even Faybelle had to admit she was tickled by names like  _ Leaning Sandwich of Cheeza _ ,  _ Great Grandma Gouda’s Five Cheese Souffle  _ and  _ Frittata’s Fondue (Yes Ma, I know you don’t like your sister but you have to admit this is good stuff) _ . She opted for a tomato and cucumber sandwich and home-trampled greens salad, while Poppy opted for a large bowl of  _ Chicken Crossed The Road (For all the Good it Did Him) Soup _ and a few slices of gruyere cheese on bread.

“Mmm,” Poppy nodded to her cheese. “Want to try some?”

“I’m good, thanks.” After a few moments of eating, Faybelle pulled out her MirrorPad and notebook. “This is all confidential, you know.” She warned. Poppy nodded and together, they flipped through the applicants, Poppy giving her insight on people Faybelle had never heard of or seen around school. “Clarisse Stalzam -”

“Daughter of Clara. From The Nutcracker.” Said Poppy, when Faybelle’s face remained blank. 

“Can she do anything useful?” 

“Dancing, I guess. Great woodworker, likes her hair shiny and in a bun.”

Faybelle rolled her eyes and took a bite out of her sandwich. “So many dancers in this school.” She mumbled around her food.

“On the plus, she is technically a tin doll. Kind of like Cedar, she won’t be real until her story is finished. If she gets attacked, you can always put her back together.”

“That sounds like a fun use of my time.”

“Aaaand....she can bring dolls and figurines to life for a short bit.”

Faybelle nodded. “I’ll consider it.” It wasn’t that bad of a touch, mostly depending on the length of time. How quickly could she make dolls? How long would her magic last? Could she make them look like the dark fey and dragons of her childhood?

Turning to the next entry, Faybelle read the name and  broke out in a cackle. “ _ Matressina Peaprincess _ ? Is that for real?”

“What? Let me see!” Poppy took the screen. “Oh - no, I know her pretty well - Peanelope Mattson. Darn Autocorrect.”

“Some autocorrect!” Faybelle was still chuckling. “What’s her deal? Daughter of the Princess and the Pea?”

“Well, the daughter of the Princess at least.” Poppy chuckled. “I usually put waves in her hair - one has to be directly in that bit between her neck and head, otherwise it messes up her sleep. A lot of stuff messes with her slumber - if the wind blows too hard outside, a mouse scurries across the floor, or even if an owl hoots, she’ll wake up screaming bloody murder and can’t get back to sleep. I should know,” She rolled her eyes, recalling a memory, “Me and Holly invited her over to our tower when we were younger for a sleepover. Just once.”

Faybelle remembered the picture on the wall outside the Tower Hair Salon. As curious as she was, she didn’t ask about it. “She could make a good bodyguard...if somehow my security spells are bypassed.”

Poppy put down her soup spoon with a clatter in exasperation. “I mean, no one’s going to be absolutely perfect. Not even  _ you _ are perfect at this - which is why you’re looking for someone to help.” 

A sudden wave of irritation came over her; What was with this girl constantly telling her things she needed to hear? Faybelle  _ hated _ when people did that. More importantly, what was with  _ herself _ actually _ listening and agreeing?  _

Something buzzed, causing Poppy to reach and check her phone. After a moment, she said. “Ugh, and I was having a good day, too.”

Faybelle didn’t ask what the problem was, but that didn’t stop Poppy from continuing. “I got another C- in Throneroom Decorating.” She adopted a voice like Mrs. Her Majesty The White Queen;  “ _ A hologram is not a replacement for tasteful wall decorations, merely an asset. A giant Skroggan fur rug is a statement piece, not something you enlarge to cover the entire floor! Yours was very nice though. Cut your hair short, not your work. _ ”

“Let me see what you did.” Poppy took out her Mirrorpad and brought up her hologram simulation. Faybelle could see what she was aiming for, but it ended up looking mismatched and ugly. The fur rug had three long, black stripes on it, and repeated as sloppily as it was made it look terrible. The hologram flicked white, moving water patterns upon the walls, “Which is actually kind of cool - but it’s too busy. Here.” With a few taps on the screen, Faybelle removed the rug, turned the floor a deep blue, dialed the hologram to be a calming, shimmery white, and cast it onto the ground. 

Poppy looked at it with wide eyes. “Nice. What about this...” She turned the floor to a deep pink. 

“Tacky, but I see the appeal. It’s about taking your time and considering all angles.” She gestured to her MirrorPad, “Like what we were doing....for  _ me _ .”

Poppy nodded “Hey - random thought here. Would you help me with some schoolwork?”

“Well, not out of the goodness of my heart!” Snorted Faybelle. 

“I’m helping you, aren’t I?” Poppy reached over and flicked on Faybelle’s MirrorPad to the next applicant. 

“Yeah, but - ”  _ You’re a goody two-blades.  _ “Eh, we’ll call it even.” She looked at the name presented to her - a dark skinned boy with startlingly gold eyes. “Ortus Muir. Son of Othello? Shakespeare isn’t - ” 

“‘A fairy tale’?” Finished Poppy. “Our school is run by the Grimm brothers - the same ones who write our tales and package them to other places under the name  _ Grimm’s Fairy Tales. _ It’s not the strangest thing here. Why would he want to apply? That’s a pretty cushy destiny.”

A shrug. “No magic...his only talent listed is  _ swordsman _ . Put him in the ‘Keep’ pile. ” 

For the next two hours, they alternated - Poppy would voice some insight about a student or person in Book End, or voiced an idea for a trial, which Faybelle would write in her notebook and on her Mirrorpad - she always believed in having a backup.  The fairy would look over Poppy’s work and talk her through design elements in her own clipped, faux-impatient way -  _ She’s  a hair stylist, shouldn’t she know about balance and design?  _  - but secretly, she was enjoying this. She got to boss someone around to how  _ she  _ thought things should be.  One shared order of  _ Can Do Flan Do  _ for dessert, a list of potential candidates were listed, also tossing around ideas for challenges to set upon the competitors. Ortus was among them, as was newcomer Courtley Jester, Lura Astros, and Eddie Ambrosus. 

“That's the best of that lot.” Faybelle yawned and stretched; the building was near empty, and the mouse family who ran the restaurant were gathering on the buffet, glaring at them. She picked around the mass of trash and garbage they had accumulated..“Welp, this has been fun, but I’ve got an early cheer practice. Tell Holly to be on time.”

“Thank you.”

Faybelle rolled her eyes. “Yes, I was  _ getting _ to that. You don’t have to try and teach me manners, O’Hair.  _ Thank you  _ for helping me.”

Poppy coughed. “No - I meant, thanks for helping me with my work. I was half doing things to save time, but at least with taking my time, I only have to do it once - and it ends up looking  _ sweet _ !”

“No problem.” The pair headed toward the door, aware of beady eyes staring at them. Outside on the streets of Book End, Poppy waved and began to head home.

“Wait!”

Poppy stopped and turned around.

“What you did in there was good - really good. How would you like to help me some more?  Physically field the applicants to see who is the  _ least _ pathetic?”  Already, Faybelle had regretted asking.

Poppy smiled. “I’d love to...but work, you know.” She added quickly, shrugging in apology. 

_ So much for that. _ Faybelle nodded, almost disappointed, and waved goodbye, before Poppy said “Unless ... you schedule it for next weekend. Friday and Saturday. I can take off for a few hours on those days.” 

Faybelle nodded, hiding a grin. “We’ll see. I’ll send you an email.” Turning, she flew down the street, glowing under the haze of lightning bugs. Not quite ready to go to her dorm, she headed towards Hocus Latte and spent some time cleaning out her bag, finding a multitude of hair ties, lip glosses, travel bottles of wing care, and parchment scraps.

_ O’Hair, you’re...okay.  _ She thought, sipping at an ice water.  _ For now. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Faybelle quite loses her cool.

_Dear applicant,_

_Congratulations - you are one of four final candidates to be a sidekick to Faybelle Thorn. You will be tested physically, mentally, cunningly, and magically._

_Expect to be tested this upcoming Friday and Saturday from 3 - 6 PM. I won’t tell you what’s being tested on what date. Evil does not plan so neatly. Bring your best abilities and worst attitude.  I will hext you the directions to the training spot, otherwise, you’re lost in the woods. Literally._ _  
_ _Regards;_

_Faybelle Thorn_

* * *

 

In order to join the Villain Club, you had not only to be a villain, but you had to prove yourself worthy. Being the boy who gave the mouse a cookie and encouraged its wild demands was irritating, not evil. Cursing shards of a mirror to strike hearts and blacken someone’s outlook on life _was_ . There was a trial each new applicant performed in front of existing Villain Club members with three simple words; _Do your worst._ As a whole, they would vote to accept or reject their entry.

Faybelle always thought they were a little _too_ accepting, but she used the general idea of a test as a guideline. She had found the secluded spot in the woods she was to use and marked the area off with some spells. Flying high above, she also placed a shield above the area - no time for a lawsuit on her watch from a wayward blast. The magical creature pens were close north east of her patch of forest, book end a mile or so more north. The big, gleaming institution that was Ever After High was distant behind her, but within easy walking distance.

She had intentionally kept everything low - key after Thea and Gruff’s auditions; Correspondence through school emails, an emphasis on keeping mum to each of the applicants about this last portion of the test. Most people were not interested anyway - until Blondie’s newscast on Wednesday.

“Greetings and salutations, fairytales!”

Duchess had been talking about her new pointe shoes when the familiar tune had jingled and Blondie popped upon the screen in the hallway. Faybelle and her glanced over, making no effort to get any closer before Duchess continued, “I got them in lavender, black, pink, purple -”.

Faybelle nodded vaguely, lost in thought about Chemythstry calculations -

“-violet, mauve, Liseran -”

\- until a few words filtered in from the television.

“It’s going to be a real busy weekend - especially if you’re a wannabe assistant to evil! You’ve seen the ads by our very own Faybelle Thorn about hiring a sidekick for her fairiffically diabolical future.”

Beside her, Duchess muttered “ _Fairiffically_?”

“Now, I can exclusively reveal the four candidates who have made the finalist lists! Lura Astros, Ortus Muir, Courtley Jester, and Eddie Ambrosus. Well! A Lunar Fairy, A Joker Card, A Prince, and a legendary wizard! I daresay, my bet is on Eddie - a child of Merlin is not one to be taken lightly.”

Faybelle flapped furiously over to the screen, pushing bystanders out of the way. Blondie continued, “You know, I daresay that Faybelle should be asking to be their sidekick instead! They’ll be solving The Scorphius Conundrum, being subjected to magic spells for tolerance, fighting a  -”

A harsh, deafening crackle of magic; Suddenly the screen went black, followed shortly by the lights flicking off one by one down the hall. Angry, she flew past Duchess, who cried out after her “What was that about - well, wait up!”

Students dived out of her way as Faybelle sped down the hall, all thoughts of going to class forgotten. She caught bits of conversation between the pounding blood in her ears - the school was quickly losing power. Normally she would have been proud, but now she - just - felt -

She was this close to tolerating O’Hair, and she goes and pulls a stunt like this? Blabs to the biggest mouth on campus? Not on her watch. Faybelle admitted to herself; _It hurt_. She sped along the hallway, shooting out of a window and heading straight for the salon.

While she flew, she struggled to keep her temper in control. She could be blown away by a stray gust if her thoughts were too occupied - and her rages had gotten her in trouble before. Most victims stayed quiet after a curse was placed upon them, but she was certain Poppy O’Hair would move castles to get her justice. Those were the annoying ones, the ones who fought back instead of taking their punishment. Thinking of her mother, Faybelle tried to imitate the _cold, icy fury_ the Queen had whenever someone had betrayed her. She flew a little faster, channeling the anger from her emotions.

Faybelle peeped into the window, wanting to make a grand entrance. To her surprise and annoyance, the only person in the salon was Holly - she hadn’t considered that Poppy might be in class. The princess was sitting on a chair, leaning back, watching Throne and Garden Television, oohing at the lavish garden a nymph was walking through. “Laffodils,” she said, amazed. “I’ve got to buy some of those!”. She jumped when Faybelle flew in, dragging strong winds in behind her. “Ahh! The wind, the wind! My hair!”

“Can it!” Faybelle replied in an echoing voice. “Where’s your sister?!”

Holly pushed herself against the chair, as if she could get further away, her hair a tangled mess. “W-why?” She shot back, trying to be brave.

The lights dimmed; tools and appliances began to float in the air, illuminated by a vibrate teal light. “I won’t ask again.”

Holly’s eyes narrowed, and she stood up. “I won’t tell you until you give me an answer!”

The lights dimmed to near darkness before growing brighter and brighter before - _POP!_ \- a shower of sparks exploded onto the two girls. Faybelle ignored the stinging of her new abrasions, while Holly screamed and ran for the window. She heaved her heavy hair over the hook, balanced on the windowsill, and propelled herself down, where she still stopped a good fifteen feet from the ground. She could still be heard faintly screaming at the top of her lungs, clutching her hair.

Faybelle paced in the ruined salon, glass crunching beneath her boots, slightly shocked at her loss of control. She was aiming for the nervous, weight-shifting from foot to foot fear. Yelling, screaming, and all out panic was for later. Maybe it had been over the top, but Poppy had betrayed the little confidence she had been given. _Next time, I’m just asking my mother._

The sound of sirens reached her ears, and she leaned out of the window. Firefighters and a fair crowd had gathered around Holly. A pair of strong faeries gently picked up the shaking princess and floated her to the ground, while another five carried her hair. She saw a bright blue head of hair push through the crowd towards her, and give her a great hug. When they parted, a few seconds later, the head looked up towards the tower, and even across such a distance, Faybelle knew that was Poppy, eyes more than likely blazing.

_You want to go, O’Hair? Let’s go._

The familiar chime of the village announcement system played, and Headmaster Grimm’s voice echoed out, barely containing his anger. “Faybelle Thorn, report to my office - _immediately_.”

She thought about ignoring him, flying right down to confront Poppy...but Faybelle did not need a body count after ignoring the most influential man in the land in light of her magic rampage. Using two fingers to point to her eyes and then to Poppy, she flew out of the window and back to school while, for once, seeds of nervousness were beginning to sprout in her heart.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9? Huh! Thanks for reading, as always!

_Tick, tick._

Sitting in a big chair in front of a large, imposing desk, surrounded by shelves and shelves of stories made the weight of Faybelle’s misdeeds hit her like a bowl of stone soup. The curtains were open partially, and a single beam of weak sunlight shone on her like a spotlight.  She stared down at her lap, hands folded, blinking slowly. The headmaster had not been in yet, rushing around the campus in an attempt to restore power. Pixie generators had been dragged out of storage and plugged into the walls of each floor, but electricity was still patchy.

She had flown through the halls, displaying her haughty demeanor for the student body. Grimm had passed her in the halls, where he had coldly said that she would be dealt with presently. That knocked the wind out of her wings, and she drooped as soon as she made sure the hallway was clear.

_Tick, tick, tick._

The door opened at her touch. Something squaked at her to “Sit down!” and Faybelle had jumped, magic at the ready.

A cuckoo clock sat, crammed between two bookshelves and a purple potted plant. A miniature roc popped out of the double doors, talons pointed accusingly. “Touch nothing!”.

Faybelle rolled her eyes, which helped to bring about her old bravado. She took out her Mirrorphone and tried to act nonchalant as she flipped through social media. MyChapter already had spellfies of students during the interrupted class time. Apple had posted a group of photos, stating she was disappointed that Princessology was cancelled, and that she hoped that things could return to normal promptly. Dexter was whining that one of his Magcraft servers had been knocked offline. Duchess only had a cheeky little “Thanks, Fay.” with a kissy mouse emoticon beside it.

But Blondie’s was the best; Her little frowny bear emoticon was animated to shed a single, overdramatic tear.

“Ugh! Sorry, folks, but due to the power outage (I guess _that’s_ what we’re calling it), my Mirrorcast will be delayed until tomorrow morning - but at least you’ll get a double length one! A full fifteen minutes! I’d better eat my porridge...provided it doesn’t happen again - maybe the perpetrator in question - not naming any Dark Fairy names - will be expelled, so _good_ students can do their jobs???”

Even with the not so sly dig, Faybelle leaned her head back and cackled. It was a small victory, but one none the less.

 _Tick_.

“This is all _very_ funny to you, isn’t it?”

Headmaster Grimm was standing in the doorway, frowning down at her.

“Oh! Uh...”

It was a little, but she wasn’t going to say that.

He seemed to have read her mind, and frowned deeper. “Miss Thorn.” Entering the room, he sat down at his desk and folded his hands, every inch the imposing teacher. “You cannot begin to imagine the chaos you caused today. And,” he raised a hand, “ _Before_ you say that it is a part of your destiny, this is not your destiny. This is your _education_ \- and the education of your fellow students, an education, I might add, that they didn’t receive today because of your actions.”

“They’ll live.” Faybelle shrugged. _If he frowns anymore, he’ll turn into a frog._

 _Tick, tick, tick._ “Funny you should say that...you almost got Holly O’Hair killed with your terror rampage at Tower Salon.” He pressed a button, and a monitor popped out from the desk. After a few taps, he brought up a breaking news edition of  The Once Upon Times. A photo of Holly was hanging onto her hair for dear life, eyes wide, and huddled into her hair. It was beginning to fray and split at the ends, unable to take the strain of panicked pulling. The headline beneath said _O’Hair, Oh No! Next Rapunzel Takes a Tumble to Dodge A Dark Fairy’s Wrath._

“Like I told her to do that sloppy jump out the window. If she had just _told_ me where her sister was -”

“ _What_ business with Poppy O’Hair is so important, so vital to us all, that you would cause a power outage, destroy a business, and prompt her sister to jump out of the tallest tower in town?”

“ _Betrayal_ , that’s what!” She jumped up, fists clenched, eyes alight with fury. “She was helping me with my sidekick tryouts - we worked on things together, selecting candidates and trials. I told her that not one word of this should get out. It’s not a competition if everyone knows what’s coming - and she goes and tells Loudmouth Lockes about it!”

“Can you prove she told Blondie this?”

She stopped. “No! But how _else_ could it have happened?!”

Grimm sighed, and turned on the intercom button. “Blondie Lockes - report to the Headmaster’s office immediately.” He flicked it off.

Minutes of silence - besides the ticking of the clock.

“If anything...” Faybelle began, in a way that could only be described as sheepishly. “I’m ... _sorry_ that the lights went out in the school.”

Before he could reply, the door swung open and Blondie hopped in. “Headmaster! I’m here -” Spotting Faybelle, she immediately backed up, holding her fingers into a cross. “You can’t get me!” she squeaked. “The Headmaster is here.”

“Shut up!” Growled Faybelle, irritated again. “Where’s your snitch partner?”

Blondie indignantly opened her mouth. “Don’t you dare!” Said Grimm quickly, pointing at her. “Nor you!” He snapped at Faybelle.  “Now, Blondie, you will sit down.” She sat. “And you will explain to me how you came across Faybelle’s work.”

Blondie huffed and puffed. “I found it in a booth at Hocus Latte a few days ago. I didn’t know who it belonged to until I opened it and saw your _sinister house crest_.” She hissed. That certainly explained why her purse felt lighter. Faybelle thought she had simply cleaned out spelltacularly well, and since she had a copy of the notes locked away on the Mirrornet, she didn’t think to check her notebook.

“And why did you use it in your broadcast?” Asked Grimm evenly, ignoring the jab.

“I mean...” Blondie gave a snide little smile. “Nothing said _not_ to use it, right? After all, I am only a _lackey_.”

“And a thief, and a snoop. What a trifecta!” Faybelle shot back.

“ _Ladies_ .” Grimm looked at Blondie. “Miss Lockes, you know better than to sneak into the belongings of other students _before_ your destiny. But that pales in comparison to knocking out the power and destroying private property, Miss Thorn.” He said in response to Faybelle’s satisfied sneer.

“Does that mean she’s off the hook?”

“No. She will be serving three days of detention. Your evening Mirrorcast will have to wait.” Said Grimm firmly, to Blondie’s utter horror.

She gasped dramatically. “B-but my viewers - ” She wailed.

“Will not be going anywhere. However, you, Miss Thorn, will be serving a week of detention - including Saturday and Sunday. You are also removed as Cheer Captain for said week - Farrah will take your place. Ramona Badwolf will take your place as leader of the Villain Club for the same time. You will do anything the O’Hair twins ask of you -”

“P-pardon me, Headmaster.” Blondie simpered. “But maybe someone should go check on Holly. She’s in shock, wanna see?” She started tapping away on her Mirrorpad.

“When I’m finished, I will - and put that away! - _including_ repairing the damage to the salon. ” He nodded again to Blondie. “You may go - your punishment starts tonight, and Madam Baba Yaga will collect you at dusk.”

She looked ready to burst into tears; Detention with Baba Yaga was normally running through the woods at dark after her walking house, trying to clean the exterior. Still, she stood up, and left quickly.

Another long silence. “I considered expelling you for a moment there.” said Grimm, “But I changed my mind. We would have no fairytales to continue the story of Sleeping Beauty if I had. But this is not the first incident you’ve been behind that goes beyond the scope of childish pranks or villainy. If you insist on these behaviors, I _will_ find someone else. Remain here.” He stood up and exited.

Faybelle’s heart sped up so rapidly, she thought it would burst. Not only was she no longer Cheer Captain for a week, _or_ leader of the Villain Club, but he talked of permanently removing her from her destiny - her _birthright._ And was that not why she was in here - because she want spellbent on being prepared for it? So much so, that she had sought revenge for the person she thought was responsible -

 _The person she_ thought _was responsible._

It wasn’t Poppy’s fault. A feeling washed over her - relief, maybe. But _why_ was she relieved? She had liked Poppy’s ideas, her attitude, her help. And Faybelle had liked helping her too. The two of them had two sides of the same no-nonsense attitude that worked well together, even if Poppy was more selfless than she. _And now, I guess she’ll be against me for attacking Holly._ As much as she struggled to deny it, Faybelle realized that she had grown fond of Poppy, from their stint lost in the woods to now...they had been helping each other for awhile. _Surely, everything can go back to normal._

Grimm returned shortly with both Holly and Poppy. Holly’s hair was still a mess, partially obscuring her face, and what little that could be seen was tear stained. Poppy glared openly at Faybelle, who had tried to smile at her, but couldn’t meet her eyes. The Headmaster went over the terms of Faybelle’s indentured servitude.

Poppy sighed. “Besides repairing the salon, I would really rather _not_ deal with the girl who attacked my sister.”

“Understandable. I have a better idea.” reaching into a drawer, he took out a piece of parchment with blank spaces to fill in and a large quill with a red feather. Opening another drawer, he procured a pot of shimmering blue ink. He filled in the blank spaces, and turned the parchment to the three girls;

 _With this document,_ _Faybelle Thorn_ _will be indentured for_ _one_ _request as asked by_ _Holly and Poppy O’Hair._ _When said request is spoken and fulfilled, the agreement is broken._

Below were spaces to sign. “I guess.” Muttered Poppy, and she signed with a flourish. “Hol? It’s okay...” Saying nothing, her sister also signed the paper with a shaky hand. Faybelle signed without fanfare. Grimm initialed the top, and Faybelle felt her arms grow heavy, as if invisible shackles had been attached.

“As of today, Faybelle owes you one favor on top of helping to repair your shop. You all are free to leave.”

The twins exited first, eager to leave.

“Miss Thorn, I will allow you to keep your sidekick finding plans, although the date will be changed to when you no longer have detention.”

Faybelle waited an awkward few minutes after the headmaster followed suit to check upon the power situation. She wasn’t anticipating the confrontation she knew to come. _Is this what being ashamed is? I don’t like it._

After five minutes, she poked her head out of the door. All clear. She flew lower to the ground than normal, reaching the end of the hall, peering around the corners -

“FAYBELLE!”

She gave a start and looked around. Briar was racing toward her. “I - _Godmother_ , Briar, why the shouting?”

Briar stopped and cocked her head to the side. “You look...different. Downcast. Not like the Faybelle I know.”

“Yeah, well, i’m not my super awesome self today. It’s a long story - That I bet you already know.” She began to walk away.

Briar followed easily, taking her trademark long strides. “Well....yeah. It’s all over the Mirrornet. Want to talk about it?”

“Not much to talk about. I made a huge mistake towards one of the few people in this place I can stand. I’ve got detention and no cheer squad. I’ve got to reschedule my tryouts - let alone rewriting all the challenges.”

“Hold up - are you seriously not even concerned about what you did to Holly? You just want Poppy to not be mad at you?”

She gave a little scoff  “Yeah, I mean - wait, how did you know I meant Poppy?”

“You think it’s a big secret that you two were on a date together at The Mouse House?” Briar smirked.

“ _We were studying!_ ”

“Uh huh.” Briar was having fun teasing Faybelle like this, she could tell. “But seriously...go apologize. To _both_ of them.”

“Go _what_?”

Briar blinked. “You’re telling me - you don’t know how to - ugh, come on.” Grabbing her by the hand, she pulled her down the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a rather long update, but it's very important.

The awkwardness of Faybelle’s apology was something to behold. The moment she stepped in, Holly had ran to the back room, and Poppy had stepped to her with a broom. With Briar beside her, holding a tray of lattes from Hocus, she stammered out a half apology, regretting that she raged through the salon, and how she had so violently accused Poppy without any proof.

“And?” The stylist had replied coldly.

“‘And’ what? I forget something?”

“Maybe, just maybe, ‘I’m sorry for scaring Holly.’! Godmother, Faybelle, do you ever consider anyone else’s feelings?” Poppy’s voice was almost at a yell, before dropping off. “You’re only concerned when something inconveniences you. You can’t take shortcuts like ‘ _oh, i’m sorry for accusing you, but assault is just part of my deal_ ’ and expect everything to be okay - that’s something _you_ taught me. You know, I almost thought we were friends, Faybelle. But not anymore. Just clean this mess up and leave, I don’t care if you use magic.” She turned away to follow Holly.

Faybelle sniffed. “Well, if she didn’t like it -”

“You can’t possibly think that was a good apology, Faybelle.” Briar said, glaring at her with uncharacteristic anger, “But then again, you probably never gave one before.” She walked over to the door and knocked on it. “It’s me...I brought you your favorite drink, Hol...”

Standing alone, Faybelle looked around the ruins. Glass was everywhere, and there was a big crack in the television. Blue magic still crackled occasionally in the tools. The light of the sun filtered in, illuminating everything ten fold. “At least I’m scary.” She said hollowly. She began a cheer;

 _“Clean it up, clean it up,_ _  
_ _put the glass back,_ _  
_ _bring back electricity,_ _  
_ _repair that crack!_ _  
_ _Magic, get yourself away_ _  
_ _from those tools,_ _  
_ _return back to my fingers,_ __  
and we’ll all be cool!”

The crack repaired itself, and she felt the magic flooding back into her fingers, but the glass twitched and remained still. Stomping her feet, she shouted, “Get back! Get back! _Get baaaaack!_ ”.

When nothing changed, Faybelle grumbled, snatched up the broom, and began to sweep. She banged on the door, “Where’s some more lightbulbs?”

After a moment, Briar’s voice came back. “In the basement.” Faybelle took off down the long stairs, finding a small door just to the left of the front entrance, covered by a tapestry. It depicted the Rapunzel fairytale, with long, flowing hair swaing in the wind from a tower. Pushing it aside, she opened the door.

Despite growing up in a family of dark fairies on the fringe of The Dark Forest, the Thorn Household was open, breezy, and light. Faybelle’s mother had not allowed her to even go _near_ a dark, damp basement until she had to for classes. While it was cluttered, musty, and partially organized, it was at least well lit.

She flew forward cautiously, looking around for a box of bulbs. Old equipment sat stacked in corner. Faybelle took a hair dryer and plugged it in - it sputtered and stalled. Tossing it aside, she looked around - there they were, a box of round bulbs. Placing them near the steps to the main tower, Faybelle turned back and went deeper into the basement, curiosity piqued at what she could find. There was a collection of paintings, old, gaudy clothing hanging from racks high above, skeletons of various magical creatures, boxes of potions, spells of dark magic (she flipped through the pages of a few and snapped pictures - _Maybe Mom might be interested._ ) and quite a few old, rotting storybooks. “What kind of game are you running here, O’Hair?”

The further deeper she went, the older and dirtier things became -  except a single painting.

A woman with long auburn hair and bright, excited aqua eyes sat smiling, with two identical children on her lap. Her dress trailed behind her, white growing into a vibrant fuscia. Both of the children had long hair and wore simple white sundresses, but one’s was neatly braided with flowers, and the other had wild, unkempt ends. The woman - _The_ Rapunzel - had her arms around both of them. They seemed to be in a tower, filled with greenery, with an open window behind them to the left. The girl with the neat hair - Holly, probably - had a wide grin and had crooked baby teeth peering out. Part of the painting had been eaten away by bugs by the edges, and some of the flora could have used a touch up paint wise - but the three subjects remained untouched by decay.

“Aww.” Faybelle murmured. “Why don’t you have this one on your wall, O’Hair?” It was far nicer than that spotty black and white one that stood near the entrance. Maybe the two were embarrassed of their baby selves - but they were quite cute, all things considered. With a light spell, she backed up and took a picture with her Mirrorphone, taking care not to use flash - perhaps she could ask someone else about it.

Suddenly, it hit her - how long had she been down here? Maybe forty minutes? There was nothing much to do after she got back to the tower and installed the bulbs. Levitating a few of the spellbooks, she carried them to the steps, where she sat and read, time slipping away...

 _Ugh._ Faybelle stood up and stretched. What time was it now? The girls probably thought she had abandoned her work - but no one had come to check upon her. Putting the books aside, she gathered the box and exited, opening the door that lead to Book End and looked around. It was almost dusk - Blondie would be headed to detention - Faybelle’s did not start until tomorrow evening. Flying back up to the salon, she found a few customers, with Poppy hopping between then by floating fairy light.

“Where have you been?” She snapped. “It’s been hours! It’s a packed house, and I can hardly see!”

“Thanks for the concern.” Replied Faybelle sarcastically. “Not like anyone came to look for me in that deep pit.”

“Briar did. I didn’t. But she couldn’t find you. Put those in, and you can leave.” She turned back to her work.

Faybelle carelessly threw the bulbs into their sockets with magic, jolting each one with a bit of magic to get them shining before flipping the switch and having the light even out. She moved to the windowsill and looked back at Poppy, who had her back turned to her. Saying nothing, she dived out into the darkness.

The news was all over Ever After High and Book End by evening. “I’ve baked like fifty sympathy cookies.” Said Ginger. She sat in Faybelle’s computer chair while Duchess sat on her bed, slippers laced up to her knees under her pyjama shorts. Bunny had gone to a sleepover with the Wonderland girls that night. Faybelle had gathered both of them in an attempt to rework her challenges.

“Enough, Ging. Help me out here...What can these four do to prove themselves?”

Ginger shrugged. “How many cupcakes can they ice in under a minute? Can they detect poison in a baked good?”

“I like the poison idea.” Faybelle nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind for the conditioning portion. Duchess?”

“Huh?” She looked up from flipping on her MirrorPhone. “Oh - going with that poison thing - do that logic test. You know, that one from that wizard book? Five bottles, three can poison you - if someone gets poisoned, someone has to see if they can cure them. I mean, what if someone tries to get you, Faybelle?”

“There’s not a lot of stuff that can get Dark Fairies.” She said confidently. “But what can is absolutely brutal. I’ve got to look some poisons up - stuff that lasts maybe two hours before killing someone. I’ll hide the antidotes in the ring.”

“And if one of the others doesn’t find the antidote within an hour, you’ll take them to the hospital wing.” Said Ginger. “Or _maybe_ you should hire a nurse fairy to stay on hand...you _are_ playing with people’s lives here.”

“I’m not really trying to pay any more than I already have to do this.” She sighed, staring out of her window. The ground were dark, and occasionally shadows moved through them. “Scrap the poison bit, just leave the logic puzzle.”

Duchess looked up. “Wait, what have you paid?”

“It’s a _metaphor_ , Duchess.”

Ginger stood up. “Well, pastries don’t prep their own dough. I’m gonna go now - Good luck, Fay.” She left the dorm, a smell of gingerbread left in her wake. “Hext me if you’ve got any other plan.” she called back.

Faybelle flopped on the bed next to Duchess.

“This is harder than I thought.” She said. “Ideally, I’d have all four of them running through the Dark Forest evading a pack of wolves, warlocks, and sorcerers. Or shoved into a _Magic Box_ until they begged for mercy. But everything is a _liability_.” She made air quotes with her fingers mockingly.

“Maybe you can still do that...I don’t know, conjure up a spectre. You can do that, can’t you? Some kind of magic vision?” Duchess turned to her. “What did you make with Poppy? Well, besides what Blondie told us.”

“They were going to be fighting a cockatrice, but Rosabella got on me about that when she heard. I’ll still keep the magic conditioning and a logic puzzle - hext me the text from that book - but I need one big clincher of a challenge...” She dangled her legs off the bed, head buried in her hands.

Duchess went over and wrapped an arm around her neck. “Give it a rest. Literally. Go take a shower - _please_ \- and tonight we’ll just watch TV and eat some snacks. Something will come to you soon, I’m sure. There’s a marathon of _Foodfights_ on...”

Faybelle stood up. “Fine, fine...order some takeout - you know how I like my sandwiches -I need to wash my hair anyway.”

* * *

 

 

The next day at school dragged on. On top of being suspended from her clubs, she couldn’t even show up to them. At least four hours of her day were completely empty, and she found herself bored and irritated.  She tried to get Justine to stream cheer practice  to her phone, but she had refused. “Trust us, Faybelle. Farrah has looked over your routines, and we’ve been doing them for three weeks anyway. We got this!”

Her cheer squad of fairies chimed in as they filed after Justine.

“Of course! You taught us well!”  
“It won’t be as good without you.”  
“I’m sure you could do it blindfolded!”

“Work on that high jump off the pyramid!” Faybelle called after Justine, as she ran to the waiting team.

Ramona took her new responsibility as the head of Villain Club seriously. “I think we’ll start with the slideshow I had - _Pointers for Plotting: Accepting that you Can’t Plan Your Enemies and Being Prepared_.” She smiled, showing off a lot of teeth. “Then a good round of making fun of people.”

“That’s not evil,” Countered Faybelle, “That’s petty.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you.” Her yellow-toothed smile grew bigger. Faybelle fought the urge to yank her brown hair right off her head. “Well, some of us actually have clubs to run, so ta-ta, Failbelle!” Ramona ran down the stairs on all fours.

So now Faybelle wandered the grounds. She spotted a few tall towers near the Track and Shield field - Damsel in Distressing class was in session. From the terrible screeching, she imagined that some kind of singing lesson was going on. With nothing better to do, she sparked magic over herself - now invisible, she snuck nearby and listened to what was going on.

“Enunciate! _E-nun-ci-ate_!” Trilled Madam Maid Marian, her trademark tall hat a deep purple today. “Helene, you are sharp!”

“It’s the cold!” Replied Helene Frost faintly. “It messes me up!”

“There’s nothing we can do about that - Work with it, dear, don’t _strain_ so - Apple, show us, please?”

“Of course.” She cleared her throat and harmonized a tune for almost a minute before beginning a song.

 _“The pair of us, I remember_ _  
_ _I remember._ _  
_ _Those summer days long gone_ _  
_ _the breezy woods,_ _  
_ _I remember, I remember,_ _  
_ _The summer nights,_ _  
_ _their song._ _  
_ _Time has seen us marching on,_ _  
_ _but we’ll reunite with happy song,_ _  
_ _and we’ll make more memories to remember_ __  
before long.”

Her clear voice had carried across the grounds - even the birds were no longer singing, put to shame. The group applauded. “Perfect, Apple, as usual.” Said Marian, wiping away a tear. “Never mind, Helene, you take a moment to regroup -”

Faybelle scowled. _I could use a villain song. Not so peppy._ Many minor villains had Muse-ic class early to hone their song, but she was of such high caliber that she didn’t need a tune to inspire fear and wouldn’t be enrolled until her third year. But she still _wanted_ one. You could never be too sure, and she enjoyed singing. She thought about adding that as a challenge, giving the four applicants a genre of music and telling them to compose a tune.   _Maybe I can scream over industrial dance._

Lost in thought, it took her a while to hear the tinny sound of recorded music. Someone was replaying their singing voice from something electronic - and it sounded like pegasus poop.

“Poppy!” Barked Marian, frowning up at the third tower. “I know this isn’t your favorite class, but I don’t appreciate this half attempt, young lady.”

Flying up, Faybelle peeked into the window. Poppy was fumbling with her MirrorPhone hastily. “I’m sorry - It’s just - Holly is still having a hard time.” She said in a low voice. Sure enough, Holly was cowered on the other side of the tower, refusing to look down - or even out of the window.

A faint sigh from below. “Very well. You are both excused for this class.” The bell echoed over the grounds. “Which is now over! Practice that song ladies - O’Hairs! You will sing alone next class - be ready. And - Good luck, Holly.” She added, not unkindly, before turning and stalking back across the grounds.

While most of the class dispersed, Apple went straight from her tower to Holly and Poppy’s, her heels clicking up the steps. “Are you okay? Are you _both_ okay?” She kneeled on the rug beside them.

Holly’s shoulders began to shake, and she started to sob. “W-what if I can’t d-do my destiny? I was s-so scared hanging from the tower for so long - I’m not willing to d-d-do that again!”

“That’ll be after a couple of years, Hol.” Poppy stroked her hair. “It’s okay for now. I will never let anything or anyone hurt you like that again - especially not _her_.”

Faybelle was pretty sure who _her_ was.

“Briar told me she tried to apologize,” Said Apple. “How bad did she do if you won’t give her another chance?”

“Apple, it was _crap_! She apologized for blaming me, but nothing for scaring Holly or destroying the shop!” A sigh. “I bet she only did it because I helped her - out of some twisted mindset of no longer ‘owing’ me. She wasn’t sincere.”

 _Well, how’s_ that _for going off script._ Faybelle was so determined to fulfill her destiny to her highest potential that she may have just put one of the most high-profile tales out out action. That was definitely not her intention - especially when so many students had recently turned away from their pre-dictated stories. She wanted to shock and intimidate Holly, not scare her to - literally - within an inch of her life. At least not while they were still in school.

After all, her mother always said _“The key is to be tough, cold, powerful...but maybe not all at once, and not all towards the same person. If someone doesn’t deserve your wrath or ire at that moment, save it for those who do. No one will serve you willingly if you curse the baker for something petty - and forced minions are no minions at all.”_ For someone who idolized The Dark Fairy, Faybelle was quite surprised that she had forgotten that.

“W-what if I can’t handle it for real? What if I get scared and just leave  - like - Mom?”

Faybelle blinked. _Well,there it was._ A good chunk of it, if anything. There was no updated portrait of Rapunzel because she never finished her story. _What kind of coward doesn’t finish their story?_

“You’re stronger than that, Holly. So much more.”

“We don’t even know why she left - do you?” Asked Apple, a thoughtful look upon her pretty features. “Maybe something happened.”

“Nah, but ... it doesn’t matter now. You can get past this, Hol. It’s your destiny, and you _want_ to do this.” Poppy stood up. “C’mon, I’ve got a four o’clock.” Together, the three of them descended the stairs.

The magic dissipated; Faybelle was now fully visible to the trio if they looked back up behind them, but she was beyond caring. A very strong voice in her head was insisting that it wasn’t her fault, that Holly was as weak as her mother. However, after Apple, Holly was the most dedicated princess to following her destiny - or, she was _._ Watching the sun sink, she swam in her dark, worried thoughts until her phone buzzed. The official school app had sent her a notification;

**DETENTION:**   
**5 PM - 8 PM**   
**REPORT TO THE CHARMITORIUM.**

She had forgotten about that, but it couldn’t stir any anger or annoyance within her to push out the guilt.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are pretty short, so here, have two early.

Her first day of punishment had been to clean every seat in the Charmitorium - by hand, with an old upholstery cleaner. All three hundred and forty eight of them, and the teacher’s thrones in the front. By the time she got out, it was almost nine o’clock, and she was hungry. Her arms and legs ached as she flew tiredly down the hall - and she did not want to consider what might be in store for tomorrow.

The sound of clanking metal reached her ears - Listening closely, Faybelle figured that it was on the floor below her.  _ Who is making all that racket this late? Curfew is almost here.  _ Another window was open, and she leaned on the sill, enjoying the cool air against her wings. Then she dove head first down, slowing her descent, flying parallel to the building. She peeked into windows as she sped along.

The perpetrators soon became clear. Both in workout clothes, A boy with black skin and a slim gold band around his head hopped about with a thin sword against Darling Charming. They were both giving as good as they got, and eventually Darling signaled to stop. “That’s great, Ortus.” The enthusiasm was clear in her high, breathy voice. “Just do that once more for the actual tryout, and we’d be pleased as punch to have you on the fencing club.”

He bowed deeply, “Thanks, Darling. You really challenged me. Off to a late dinner before the security thornbushes show up.”

“Oh, I know all about getting around those -”

“ _ Hello _ !” Faybelle shot into the room, to find herself at the end of two swords. 

“Easy, easy...I come in peace.” She said, raising her hands defensively. The swords lowered. 

“Evening, Faybelle.” Darling said cheerfully. “We were just practicing.”

“I see, I see...and you must be Ortus Muir.” She said to the boy.  _ He’s far more handsome than his school photograph.  _

“I am indeed.” He bowed. 

“Thing is...that whole sidekick audition - I have to postpone it  _ just _ a week. It’s still three to six on Friday and Saturday.” She shrugged. “I’ve got detention every night for a week. Which I just got out of.” She stretched her arms.

Ortus spread his hands. “Of course. You’re in charge here - I can wait.”

Faybelle smiled and nodded. If either of them were daunted by her after the  _ incidents _ , they didn’t show it - but they  _ were _ the ones holding the weapons. “So, you two haven’t had dinner yet either?” 1f she couldn’t see the strengths of each candidate early, she could at least gauge personalities.

“We’ll look for something together.” Darling smiled. “Though we’d better hurry - most places close at ten around here.”

Book End was moderately busy, but the pita cart was still open, stationed in front of Volumes Book Store. Faybelle had to admit, it was nice sitting at a table listening to people laugh. She didn’t say much - she didn’t want to potentially frighten Ortus - but he and Darling talked about swordplay and explained in detail to her the rounds they had went through. A fair bit of it went over her head, but anyone being enthusiastic about combat was good enough for her. Darling stepped away to wash her hands, and Faybelle pounced.

“If you’re a prince ... why do you want to be  _ my _ sidekick?” 

Ortus sighed, and put down his drink. “I am a prince, yes, but eventually it will be a great cost. I get betrayed by numerous people, which ends with me killing my wife - whichever poor girl is picked to be Desdemona...and then I end up killing myself out of grief. It all happens when I’m about ... say, forty five, but I’d rather it not happen at all, you know?”

“So...you weren’t old enough to meet your parents when they died.” He shook his head, “Oh - I - that sucks.” She finished lamely.

A shrug. “It’s all part of destiny - but not if I have anything to say about it!” Picking up his glass again, he gestured toward her. “Cheers, Faybelle.” 

They clinked their soda cans together just as Darling returned. “What’d I miss?” 

“Oh, just celebrating new lifestyles.” Say Faybelle airily, standing up and stretching her wings. “It’s been fun, but I got a long day ahead of me tomorrow. See you when I see you.” Taking off, Ortus and Darling waved behind her.

While the interaction had certainly been nice...it was missing something. 

Authenticity. 

She had held back as not to be off putting - though, in retrospect, both of them would have been able to handle a little more of her true self. But with Poppy, she was just herself and everything worked out.  _ Would I even be thinking about this if I hadn’t been stripped of my titles and hextracurriculars?  _ Probably not, she decided, but the thoughts kept coming. Duchess was like that, but sometimes she got a bit snooty, as if she was too good to get her hands dirty, figuratively or literally. And what good was it to only have one person to verbally spar with?

Moonlight shone through the windows. Faybelle glided, twirled through each beam, feeling revitalized, more like herself, than she had in a day. Fairies didn’t need friends, just assistants and sidekicks. Someone she could be her true self to, and they would keep their mouth shut and take it. Her mother had a few close friends, but they had worked hard to prove to her they meant no ill will - and who wouldn’t want to sit alongside The Darkest of Them All? 

“They’re all just  _ pansies _ !” She yelled, not caring if students were trying to sleep. “But I’ve picked the most prime of the flowers, and we shall see who is the most worthy sidekick of them all!” Laughing, she sped off down the hall, a new idea hatched in her head. Faybelle was prepared to plant seeds of dissent in certain members of the student body -  _ but it’s what they signed up for. _


	12. Chapter 12

 For once, Faybelle was happy to find vegetable stems in her boots - not really, but it gave her an excuse to talk to her roommate.  Bunny Blanc stood in her bathroom, counting as she brushed her hair. “Quintillion and one, Quintillion and two - oh!” She jumped a foot in the air and she spotted Faybelle in the mirror behind her. “G-Good morning, Faybelle.”

“Bun. We’ve talked about this.” A pile of vegetables fell out of her upturned boot. 

“S-sorry.” She was shaking.

A noncommittal shrug. “I’ll let it pass this time - if you tell me where Courtley is this morning.” 

“W - well -” Taking out a pocket watch, she wrapped the chain around her gloved hand anxiously. “P - probably at the croquet field. She likes to practice early to sing - Lizzie doesn’t like her singing.”

Giving the boot one last shake, Faybelle put it on and laced it up. “Good girl. Also - A little less lettuce next time.” She said, before flying out of the bathroom.

The croquet field at Ever After High were a variation of black and white checkered grass patches. Hedgehogs milled about in a tiny pen, and plastic flamingos were stuck haphazardly in the ground beside them. Giant topiaries of Wonderlandian animals were placed erratically on the field - making it look more like a hedge maze than a playing field. It was raining on the other side of the court, but it seemed to have moved past where Faybelle flew, close to the topiaries.

The bell chimed eight times.  _ Maybe I could use this for a physical test.  _ She thought. Despite the logic challenge, Faybelle was still short three more trials.  _ If you can get through Wonderland nonsense, Dark Magic is just a step up - _

_ Whump!  _ Something struck the back of her head! Turning around sharply, she heard the jingle of bells and a hat duck behind a shrub shaped like a badger. “Whoops, ha ha!” 

“ _ Courtley _ -”

The Joker jumped up, a big grin on her face. “Well howdy - do, Faybelle! What brings you ‘round our humble croquet fields?” She waved her flamingo around. “Care for a game, perhaps?”

“Maybe later.”  _ Never.  _  “But I was looking for you, actually.” She rubbed the back of her head, which still stung.  “What  _ was _ that?”

“A hedgie.” Courtley giggled. “Sorry.” She did a flip, standing on top of the badger. “C’mon!, let’s blabber, chatter, whatever you like!” Jumping off, she hopped between hedges until she reached a spindly table surrounded by a bush growing in a semi circle. “Time for tea!” Digging around in her hat, a teapot, matching cups and saucers, and a plate of shortbreads were suddenly on the time. “After you!”

Faybelle sat gingerly on the bush and reached for a teacup. The pot had tiny legs, it waddled over, and slowly poured a berry-pink tea into her mug. Taking a sip, she almost spit it out - the last thing she expected of tea was it to be bubbly. 

Courtley downed her cup in one gulp. “My favorite! Absolutely the opposite of how you feel when you drink it. Sometimes, I just need a drab cup of drumbleberry. Sooooo - what wants doing?”

_ Alright, Fay. Let’s go. Whip out that positive attitude you paid for in that seminar.   _ “Oh, I’ll get to that later. How are you?” She said in a voice an octave or so above her normal one. “Enjoying life after your terrible misdeeds?”  _ Oops. _

“I love it here so very, very much. Everyone is just so  _ nice _ ! To me! No one was ever this nice to me at Wonderland High... I’m so glad  _ they _ decided to give me a chance.” She pointed to the left. 

Faybelle followed her finger. Nothing there but some rosebushes. “Uh, okay -”

“I mean, gosh, you’re even encouraged to be bad! But not too bad. Then they get a little  _ whoo - whoo! _ ” She twirled her finger around her temple and laughed.  “Touchy, touchy, touchy. But just maybe, I can even rule my own Queendom some day!”

“Perhaps - or you can choose to be  _ my _ sidekick.”

Courtley’s huge eyes grew wider.

“Now, nothing’s been decided yet - but I heard that, er, Eddie Ambrosus was trying to take you out. Make you drop out of the running.”

“WHAT?” Courtley jumped up, nearly knocking the table over. “Well, he’s got another thing coming, I can tell you that!” She took out her deck of cards - their powers were as random as their owner - and shuffled them rapidly, over her head, faster than Faybelle could see - then she stopped, letting them fall.

“I haven’t felt a thing though. I guess his spells aren’t as good as he thinks they are!”  

“Yeah, I suppose not -”  A thought struck her. “Hey, how do you like this cheer...

_The other players are not your friends,_ _  
__they will destroy you to meet their ends._ _  
__Okay, dear, thanks for the tea,_ _  
___but on this morning, you never saw me!”

She finished with zapping Courtley straight in the face, who swiped at her face and blinked. “Oh - howdy, Faybelle. I’d blabber, but I’ve got to practice for  _ your _ very own auditions, what?” 

Gathering her cards, Courley shot them edge-first in a stream at a topiary pidgeon, ripping it to shreds. With a great whoop, she jumped after them, going off to destroy more innocent plant animals.

Faybelle blanched, and took another gulp of tea. “I hate to see what those can do against flesh.” 


	13. Chapter 13

The day passed uneventfully - She told Duchess of her plan to plant seeds of rivalry among her contestants, and the princess giggled over her lunch. “Love it! I wish I could be there to see them fight.” 

“I’ll record everything and we’ll watch it together.” They toasted their glasses together.

Detention arrived - There, Faybelle scrubbed the animal pens. Over the next four days, she polished every statue in the front hall (and they wouldn’t stop moving), administered medicine to sick, nocturnal dragons every thirty minutes, and finally deep shampooed the four long, thick rugs that sat on each of the school’s seven floors.

_ Only one day left.  _

With all the activity er plans had been put to a halt; Faybelle couldn’t find Lura at all during quick flybys at night, and she had yet to see Eddie either.

By the time she woke up - fairy late - on the seventh day, the Castleteria hot bar had only weak and cold porridge left for breakfast, so Faybelle opted for a fruit cup and sped out the door. Maybe she would go to a pub several towns over and hire some gnomes and dwarves to fight her contestants. Although, fewer people were keen to take fairy gold these days, as large amounts had a habit of always finding their way back to their families - covered in blood.

But for now, she congratulated herself on a job well done. That was  _ one _ contestant ready to get nasty...where could she find the other ones? She was halfway to the Salon for intel when she remembered -  _ Oh. Yeah.  _ She thought about trying to apologize again, but the last thing she needed was to be beaten with a broom. Embarrassed, she turned around, and opted for simply flying around campus.

Twenty minutes and several blueberries later, Faybelle found Eddie Ambrosus. He was in the Charmitorium, standing in the orchestra pit. Facing the stage, he waved his wand at the stage, and sparks suddenly appeared, big and outflying. Neatly sidestepping a spare spark, Eddie shouted “Yes! Perfect!”.

A strawberry flew at him, missing him by a wide mark. “Don’t get stains on those seats! Those are hard as spell to clean!” Faybelle flew from behind the curtain, glaring down at him, hands on hips.

He climbed out of the pit. “I wondered when I’d finally see you.” He seemed unshaken, thrilled even. “Nice to  _ finally _ meet you!” His sweater vest was blue and yellow argyle with little stars and moons on the sleeves of his black dresshirt. His brown trousers were like something out of those  _ Dick-Ensian  _ novels, as were his leather, laced up boots. Eddie’s hair was brownish-black and slightly singed at the ends and almost matched his eyes. “Son of Merlin.”

An impressed whistle. “ _ The _ Merlin?” She knew this, but pretended to be impressed.

“More or less. You’re probably thinking of my great- great- great- great- great- great-  _ great- _ grandfather, who sat council for  _ The _ King Arthur of legend. And I will do the same, but he’s the one who started it. The Arthur - slash - Merlin lineages never seem to line up these days, so I’ve got a year or two to wait when I graduate.”

“So you  _ already _ don’t plan eternal employment under me? You’re considering this a temp job?”

“Every new Merlin takes an apprenticeship, usually under another wizard...but I felt like bucking the trend.” He smiled. “Not like the competition is any competition at all!” Taking his wand, Eddie spoke an incantation and drew a large oval in the air. Purple clouds swirled inside. Stepping through it, he appeared in the back of the Charmitorium. After a moment, he stepped back through besides Faybelle on the stage. “Ta-da!”

A nod. “Well now,” She continued in an obvious, exaggerated manner. “Do you  _ really _ think this will compare to the  _ other  _ contestants?”

He laughed. “Faybelle, please. Whatever a joke of a card, a prince, and some Lunar Fairy can do pales in comparison to good old fashioned  _ magic _ .”

Maybe she wouldn’t have to paint a target on someone else’s back with this guy. “Now, just between you and me, I think you’re right.” Faybelle winked, and Eddie puffed up with self-importance.  _ He’s so arrogant, I want to deck him myself...which would at least be amusing to watch.  _ “But I've got to at least give the others a chance...who knows what might happen?”

Faybelle could see from his nod that he didn't believe that, and she hid a smirk.  _ Don't underestimate those who can do the few things you can't.  _

A melody chimed, and Eddie tapped his wand in the open air and pulled out a Mirrorphone. “Yes...oh, yeah. I'll be right there!” He hung up. “A puppet show for the nursery rhymes in town - I had totally forgotten!” Another incantation, another portal -  this time, a preschool was clearly visible. “But if you need anything, anything else, say the word - See you around!” he hopped through, and the portal disappeared. 

Faybelle knew better than anyone else how cockiness could hinder a performance... But at least she had more than silly  tricks, teleportation tricks and sparklers. He was probably hiding something more - Eddie Ambrosus seemed like the kind of person to take another’s destiny, even if he had one of the most prestigious.

_ I’ll light that bridge on fire when I come to it. _

Taking out her Mirrorphone, she sent a group hext to her fairy posse, making sure it did not go to the other members of the cheer squad; 

_ There seems to be a lot of rivalry between Ortus and Eddie...I wonder why?  _

The replies were almost instantaneous;

_ I bet Eddie is jealous - he’s not that cute compared to Ortus. _

_ He did beat him in that Track and Shield competition though! _

_ I’ll ask some people - we’ll figure it out! _

Faybelle interjected again; She knew her girls would distort the initial message so badly, no one would be certain who started it

_ I can’t seem to find Lura...has Courtley gotten to her already? _

There was a frenzy at that _ \- “That explains why Courtley was walking around outside with a net last night!” _

_ “I can’t believe they even let her come after setting her old school on fire.” _

_ “She’s so mad. They all are, Wonderlanders.” _

Was any of it true? Barely. But by the end of the day, several tall tales about her candidates would be swirling all over town and campus. With a chuckle, Faybelle pocketed her phone and flew off to her first class of the day.

Scribing was a new class on the curriculum. It was more for Freedom Year students, but for those with long, arduous destinies who wanted to keep meticulous track of their happenings, they opted for it. The Grimm Brothers had the final written word on what would be mentioned in a story, but first-hand accounts never went amiss, and were often added in the back of the finished tomes. Faybelle knew of the glorious evil deeds she would soon accomplish and signed up.

“What I want from you today is ... a story.” Professor Moffita Scrawlston strolled in front of the class, shiny pink hair in a loose bun. “But! Not your own story, no, no, I’ll pair you with a classmate, and you write a short piece. Something they did as their destiny - did they kiss five frogs? Curse a town? Brush ducks? Just a day in the life kind of thing.”

_ I doubt anyone here can even imagine the badness I’ll do, but i’ll watch them try.  _ When Scrawlston paired up students, Poppy rushed into the door, face flustered. “Sorry - sorry.” She held up a hand as she panted. “I’m....not too late, am I?”

“It’s fine, Poppy.” The Professor replied shortly. “You’re just in time to be Faybelle’s partner.”

In retrospect, the day was going far too well for Faybelle for something like this to  _ not _ happen. The chatter of the rest of the class stopped almost immediately. Both girls shot each other a murderous look. “Please, anyone else, anyone at all.” Said Poppy between her clenched teeth.

“Now, now, I’m sure you can work out your differences. At the very least, your stories will be interesting.” She stepped away.

The other groups backed closer to the walls as Poppy angrily dragged a desk over to Faybelle. Ripping a fresh sheet of parchment from her roll, she took out a quill and ink. “Just don’t talk to me.” She said.

“I’m not going to let you ruin my story out of spite - and i’d like to be ...  acquaintances again.” Normally tightlipped, the words just came out. Embarrassed, Faybelle kept her eyes on her paper and her fist clenched around a quill. “I - I liked when we worked together. It was pretty cool - But if you don't, I’ll get over it.” she added quickly.

A long pause, followed by no reply. Poppy didn’t look up from her paper. Faybelle saw that she wrote quickly and messily.

“No one will even be able to read that.”

“Oh, believe me, if the Professor read this, I’d probably fail.” She laughed harshly..

Faybelle sighed. “I mean...even if you’re going to be snarky...you have to be clever. From what I can see, that’s not clever.”

Poppy grimaced, “At least you aren’t going for physical assault this time...just literary critique. How do you feel about my calling you an  _ ‘constantly outraged magic pest _ ’?” 

“I’ve heard worse, but it’s not bad. You should get some swears in there.”

“How about no...what about ‘ _ Someone who I really should be pressing all kinds of charges against, from within an actual courtroom to a physical brawl on the street _ ’?”

“Too wordy.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t  _ ask _ you!”

Faybelle laughed with disbelief. “Really now? Did I  _ imagine _ thirty seconds ago?” She put on an imitation of Poppy’s voice. “‘ _ What do you think about ‘The future best Dark Fairy ever and i’m honored to even be cursed by her!’ _ ?”

“I didn’t say that!”  But her mouth almost twitched into a smile. “But I could say ‘ _ Sorcerer of misery who can hardly use her magic that I have first hand experience with’  _ ?”

Faybelle stopped. “You can insult me, but not my talent, O’Hair.”

“Stop me.” Poppy met her eyes. Then, “Alright, that is a little petty.” 

They smiled tentatively at each other.  The fact that Faybelle had taken most of the jabs so lightly seemed to impress her.“You’re not off the hook quite yet.” Poppy had a reluctant grin on her face. “We still have that legally binding Request we all signed.” 

Faybelle batted her eyelashes. “You won’t consider ripping that up?” 

Poppy gave a nasty look, prompting Faybelle to raise her hands. “No, no, that’s fine, we’ll keep it. I...deserve that.” 

“You’ll apologize to Holly. A  _ real _ apology.” 

“ _ Fine _ . Does she like cupcakes?”

Poppy rolled her eyes. “Ugh, yeah, but we’ve gotten so many sympathy baked goods, we can’t even eat them all. They’re starting to go bad.”

“Sell them to the trolls,” Faybelle nodded. “They love that stuff.” They spent the rest of the period swapping barbs and insults for each other’s stories, laughing and proofreading. When Professor Scribeston came back to collect their papers, asking what she could expect from each story.

“The story of a super incompetent evil fairy.”, “A princess who fails as a princess and a hairdresser.”

Scrawlston blinked, then grinned. “I look forward to reading them.” she walked away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is supposed to be East Asian, I'm just not sure if I got that across well enough.


	14. Chapter 14

Faybelle had almost missed being in the salon; Immediately jumping into a chair, she spun around. “That’s always fun.” 

Poppy  had gone to the back, and returned quickly with Holly, who kept well behind her sister.

“Are you sure this is okay?” She mumbled.

“Yep,” Poppy looked toward Faybelle sternly.  “Go on, Fay.”

She slowly stopped spinning “Um, hey, Holly.” reaching into her bag, she pulled out an envelope.  Standing up, she continued. “Here. I’m sorry about scaring you half to death. It wasn’t cool, and you were just a bystander  - and it wasn’t even Poppy’s fault! So -” She saw Poppy’s warning look and finished quickly. “Anyway, here.”

Holly took the envelope and opened it and squealed. “A gift card! To...Charm Emporium!”. It was a popular accessory boutique in town. Faybelle normally only aimed for dwarf-mined metals that had been polished for a hundred years for her bracelets, but she did occasionally pop in. Their cursed amulet section was grudgingly impressive. 

“It’s either 50 or 60 gold’s worth on there - I forget which.”

“And they just got in the shipment of centaur - crafted hair charms!” Holly smiled and held the card to her chest. “Thanks, Faybelle. I mean, you’re  _ evil _ , so this is totally beyond -  Hey, you want to join us for dinner? I’m cooking tonight!” 

“In your dormitory?”

“Yep! Nona convinced Grimm to put in a tiny kitchen for me -”  She put on a gruff voice. “‘‘ _ How is she supposed t’feed herself when she’s locked away? Yer little Castleteria  - crap, crap, crap anyway! She has t’learn how t’cook! _ ’” She laughed. “Had to get a lot of building ordinances for it, but it’s worth it when I don’t feel like dragging my hair downstairs.”

“Nice.  I’ve got one last night of detention.”  _ And I still hope to find Lura.  _ “I get out at eight.”

“That gives me time to make dessert - I’m thinking lava cake.” Holly raced to the door and turned around. “Seriously, you’re coming. Make her come, Poppy!” She ran out the door, and they could hear her hair swishing down the many steps.

After a pause, Poppy shrugged. “Well, if you want to, the door is open.” She laughed. “Or the window, that is. How’s it going with your auditions? Did you think of any new trials yet?”

“Duchess suggested a logic puzzle, and Ginger incorporated some poison training - If someone else failed the puzzle, they would end up poisoned after drinking the wrong bottle, and could another contestant help them, or something like that.”

“I’m pretty sure Grimm would not let that fly. And before you suggest just sneaking behind his back,” Poppy continued as she opened her mouth to scoff. “You’re already on thin ice. And do the others know each other to care enough to save them? Who says they wouldn’t let them get terribly sick - that’s one less competitor to deal with.”

Faybelle considered telling her the plan to put them at each other’s throats with fake rumors and gossip, but she didn’t feel like a lecture. She may not have been a snitch, but Poppy was still a goody two blades. “No, probably not.”

 

* * *

 

The final night of detention was just sitting in a room. A room with a single, solitary window, three desks, and being left to her own devices.

“You’ve got the gist by now, Faybelle,” Madam Baba Yaga said. Then her eyes narrowed. “ _ Haven’t _ you?”

She nodded, hoping that the professor would forget about taking her MirrorPhone. 

When Faybelle was sitting upon a hard stool, Baba Yaga simply said “Three hours. I’ll be back.”, and closed the door (which promptly shrunk and disappeared). Knocking the desk aside in haste and heading to the window, she unlatched and threw open the panes. Cool night air drifted in, and she took a deep breath. From this side of the school, the Enchanted Forest took up most of her vision, with lights bobbing in between the trees as the sun set. If she leaned out and looked to the right, the duck pond lay, large and gleaming. The left held a tower constructed upon the dormitories. Faybelle had thought it was just for twee fairytale decoration at first, but in retrospect, it made sense that it was Holly and Poppy’s dorm room.

Her phone buzzed with a hext;

_ [WhitexSwan]: Heyyy I thought of another trial for you! _ __   
_ [WhitexSwan]: Get this _ __   
_ [WhitexSwan]: i can lead the pond fowl in a rampage and we can chase your group through the forest. _ _   
_ __ [WhitexSwan]: Whoever makes it out least scathed (is that a word???) wins the round.

“Not bad, not bad.” She mumbled. _ But not just water birds, though... _

Taking out her phone, she went to the number listing of Thorn Manor. Her finger hovered over her mother’s number, wanting her help, but instead, she flicked down, down, to the third assistant. 

When the phone rang, Faybelle launched into her spiel. “Cruxa! How  _ are _ you?” An eyeroll. “Yes, I need help. What pub is closest to Book End? .... Fang’s Warren? Whatever, go there, and hire about, oh, about a dozen of the meanest, most vicious thugs you can find for me....You’re a  _ demon _ , you can handle this! Knock ‘em around a bit if they get too lippy....Just have them meet me at Hocus Latte - Saturday at two....yes, two days...Why? Do you question  _ your employer _ this way?” A smile. “...Thank you, dear. If Mother asks, just ask her to call me.”

With a smug tap, she hung up the phone. Looking out the window, she saw groups of students heading back toward the castle, towards study groups or later clubs.

_ [xxDark_Faybellexx]: Nice. I modded it a bit. _

For the next hour, she tapped away between hexting Duchess and being on an App feeding manticores and werecats that arrived in her little yard.  _ I’ve got a few days before the first bunch of trials...they’ll be chased by thugs in the woods on Saturday, but what about Friday evening? I guess that’s good for magic conditioning, but how?  _

The grounds were now lit by the moon. Shadows ran deeper, and shapes shifted through them - including a glowing figure. Faybelle turned on her video recording and zoomed in on the figure. The grainy image showed a girl with hair in various shades of white. Wings moved quickly, but they seemed to be an inky blue. She turned to face something in the shadows. Suddenly, sprites sprang into view, of that, Faybelle was sure.

They were so small and indistinguishable, that’s all they  _ could _ be.

The fairy girl pointed - to the far side of the grounds, to the woods - and the group dissipated. The girl headed off to the pond, but not before standing in a patch of moonlight. In mere seconds, she began to glow brighter - her skin was a dark, smooth brown -  and did a somersault in the air before zipping off faster than before.

A Lunar Fairy. Maybe it was Lura, maybe it wasn’t.

_[xxDark_Faybellexx]: Go outside and do some reconnaissance by the pond._ _  
__[WhitexSwan]: I’m studying!!! no!!!_

“This is why I didn’t hire you.” She muttered, sticking her head out of the window, feeling the breeze. If she was to leave, she might get caught and more time added to her sentence. Climbing up onto the sill, Faybelle crouched down and sprung into the air.

_ Better not get caught then. _

She streaked across a single beam of moonlight before crouching into the shadows of the castle, hugging the wall as she tried to keep up with the mysterious fairy. “Where, oh where, could she be.” Sang Faybelle quietly as she went across the grounds. Coming across the lake, she saw the girl hovering just over the surface. Unable to get closer, she narrowed her eyes and looked as hard as she could.

Twirling slowly, the girl twirled her hands around in the air. Clear, sparkling dust floated to her in a neat stream as she gathered it into her hand and ran it through her hair. Another stream was placed seemingly into a bag of  _ nothingness _ she held in her hand before flying off. 

“Huh.” Sticking her hand out into the light, Faybelle opened and closed it. Nothing happened. Grumbling, she retraced her flight carefully, looking around as she entered the room. It wouldn’t surprise her if Baba Yaga was sitting in the room, cackling as she told her to stay overnight.

* * *

A piece of parchment on the desk held a dot in the middle and a big circle around them. Faybelle had a better plan, and it was thanks to Holly O’Hair.

She had talked non stop when Faybelle arrived for dinner, placing some kind of lasagna, salad, garlic knots, and berry punch on the round, wooden table. Holly sat down - then the sisters had grappled quickly for the basket of bread in the middle of the table, and laughed as they tried to pull it away from each other.

“We do this all the time.” Laughed Holly, seeing Faybelle’s bemused expression. 

“Just a game.” Poppy said sheepishly, “Though we should act a little better with a guest here.” Both of them still holding onto the basket, they held it towards Faybelle. “They’re really good.”

And they were, Faybelle thought, as she picked one apart and ate the buttery crust. Poppy projected an episode of Next Top Magician on the wall and Faybelle had to admit she was having a good time when she wasn’t tuning out. Her thoughts were occupied for the evening as the two of them chattered and tried to get her involved. She made an excuse to leave early, citing tiredness.

“It really was fun,” She tried to sound sincere, though it came hard to her. “But the day has me totally wiped. I start training my potentials tomorrow - come hex it out. I may need witnesses.”

Faybelle had flown to her dorm and sketched her idea. The tower was already up, but she would have to see if they were available at the time. A quick message to Briar on MyChapter confirmed that, yes, the Damsel in Distressing class did not meet on Fridays.

A tower heist. How would they react to trying to storm a taken tower, when its inhabitants would be willing to fight back with magic? They could work together or not at all. Her spells would be in effect, and she could litter obstacles in their path. Faybelle went to the foot of her bed and opened her trunk. Jumping in, she fluttered down past racks of clothing and displays of jewels, fifteen, twenty feet until she found the weapons hanging on the wall. A magical crossbow, humming with magic, a  quiver of aqua-green arrows were held in a quiver beside it. A collection of small bombs hanging from a bag. A battle axe, thin swords, a ball and chain - a collection of heirloom weapons whenever the Thorn Family had wanted to make a point without magic. Lifting it gently, Faybelle flew back up and placed the crossbow carefully on the ground, returning soon with the arrows and bombs. Distance weapons were key.

_ Who is going to use these, though?  _ She thought. Faybelle had to fly around and watch everyone, she couldn’t assault them as well. She reached for her phone and dialed Poppy.

“Faybelle - short notice - what’s up?”

“Can I talk to Holly? Not that you’re not thrilling conversation, but this is important.”

Soon the other girl was on the line. “Faybelle! Hi. You know, it’s been a while.” she joked.

“Listen - can you use a crossbow?”

Silence. “Ah...no, but it can’t be too hard. Why?”

“If I let you borrow mine, do you have the guts get in a practice tower and shoot at some people for me?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot this week, but luckily we are almost done. Or maybe not....if you catch my drift.

Faybelle sat with Duchess at breakfast the next morning, excitedly outlining her plan.

“You’ve got that book of brainteasers? They’re going to be running through them when they get to the tower.”

Duchess pulled out a giant tome, easily more than a thousand pages, and patted the dusty cover. “Yes, Fay.”

“And your ducks are all in a row? Literally, I mean?”

“ _ Yes _ , Godmother -”

A scent of cinnamon wafted nearby, as Poppy and Holly came by. “Hi Faybelle, hello Duchess!”

“... _ Hi _ .” Duchess eyed the pair coolly as she mumbled to Faybelle. “And they’re here...why?”

“On my orders. Er, invitation.” With a swipe of her finger, Duchess’ stuff was moved a seat over, and Holly took the empty spot.

“This is so exciting” Squealed Holly. “I get to help be part of fairy tale history! One of these people will be  _ the _ assistant to The Dark Fairy! And I helped!” She took a bite of porridge. 

Faybelle couldn’t help chuckling at her. “That’s right. You’ll have the crossbow and the book of brainteasers. If someone makes it up around Duchess and her birds, you read the one marked out to them. Whoever figures it out quickest gets the most points.”

“Well, why’d you rope me into this?” Duchess complained. “I gave you the book like you asked - I have a date with  _ Daring _ this evening!”

“Oh, just send along a picture. He won’t know the difference. So, Holly will shoot the arrows and toss the bombs - Duchess, you tell your ducks and birds to rush Lura, Ortus, Eddie, and Courtley. Poppy, you’re on recording duty.”

Poppy almost choked on her hot chocolate. “I’m not going to be recording a bloodbath, am I?” She sputtered.

“Unfortunately, no. The bombs are just smoke bombs.  I’ve enchanted the arrows to do light damage. They might bruise someone, but they won’t kill them. Not today.”

The day passed fairly slowly; Faybelle found herself looking out the window in a daze. So distracted was she, when Raven bumped into her in class as they gathered teapots to hex, it had completely slipped her mind to hassle her about her destiny. To be safe, during her lunch hour, she went to the towers at the end of class and struck fear into the heart of the first year princesses as she yelled from the window.

“Heed this - if you have no business here after three in the afternoon, stay away!”  She clenched her fist out of sight, and dark clouds gather overhead. “First and  _ last _ warning.” Faybelle knew from their flouncy running away that the message would spread.

When class was through, she rushed to the practice towers, which stood in their wide field, completely abandoned. “Love it.” She mumbled, setting down her weapons. Flying in a wide circle, a long spell was mumbled as Faybelle’s fingers twirled. At its conclusion, a blue force rose from the ground, covering the tower on the edge of the field and a good sized circle around it in a dome before dissipating. Nothing magical than the people she had selected would be able to escape.

Eddie arrived first, dressed immaculately in his neat shirt and sweater vest. “Can’t keep the future Mistress of All Evil waiting, can we?”  He said, twirling his wand through his fingers.

“No, we can’t.” Faybelle flicked a spark of magic at him. “So you can actually get into the arena.” She explained. “Another few feet and you would have slammed nicely into an invisible wall.”

Duchess arrived with several waterfowl in tow, and she lined them up as Faybelle told her to. After two dozen more magic flicks, birds now wandered aimlessly around the tower, pecking at the ground.

“I also have a bag of birdseed.” Duchess glanced at Eddie with an unimpressed expression.  “To make it even better.”

“Nice. Where  _ are _ they?”

“Who?”

“The Wonder Twins! I really wanted everything to be ready to make a big showing when the contestants arrived but that’s almost scuppered now.”

Duchess turned back toward the school. “Hold your fire-maned horses from Hell, Fay, I think I see a banner of hair back there...” 

Sure enough, Holly was running across the field, with Poppy haplessly trying to hold onto her hair to prevent it from dragging. “Sorry! Are we late?” She looked around. 

“Well, you aren’t early.” Faybelle said impatiently, flicking a spark on both of them. “I’ve put everything in the tower already, Holly. Go give that crossbow a whirl.” They both took off into the building, excited. A moment later, an arrow whizzed out of the window at the sky, hitting the invisible dome and falling with a  _ clunk _ . They could hear Holly’s faint cheering.

Another group was approaching them, hidden under a large, brightly colored umbrella.

_ All these damned dramatics.  _ It wasn’t close to raining, simply a little windy. “O’er there, pals!” Someone crowed, and the mass moved toward them. Courtley and Ortus were in front, looking curiously at the setup. “I told you this was the right spot, Orty!”

“So you did, Courtley.” He nodded. “Good to see you again, Faybelle.”

More magic, more sparks. “We’re almost ready, just hang out for a moment. Go talk to Eddie.”

Simultaneously, they turned to the left, eyes narrowed at the confident wizard. “I think I’ll pass.” Said Courtley huffily. “You know, he was acting  _ quite _ suspiciously in the Magical Warfare classroom before I went in. Almost cracked me dear old crown!” Moving to close the umbrella (Which Faybelle could now see had card suites shifting upon it.), someone called out behind them - “Hold it! Hold it!”

The Joker Card almost jumped a foot in the air. Laughing, she turned around and handed the umbrella off to someone Faybelle had overlooked. “Ooh, sorry Lura! You’re so quiet back there, ya almost got snapped up!”

Lura Astros was indeed the fairy Faybelle had seen during the night. She had almost blended into the shadow of the umbrella, though Faybelle could not believe how she had missed her wild, dull blond hair. She shrugged off a big captain’s coat with brass buttons. “Thanks, Ortus.” He nodded in response and slung it over his shoulder.

“Thank you Courtley for not  _ crushing _ me in your big magic umbrella - and for letting me walk with you.” Indeed, Lura  _ was _ walking. Suddenly spotting Faybelle, she gaped.“It really  _ is _ you! Oh, we’ve never talked - but who  _ doesn’t _ know who you are?” 

“You’d be surprised.” She looked back towards the tower. Plenty of arrows were dotting the ground haphazardly. Duchess was watching a flurry of ducks around her poke at the arrows. “Get those up!” She  yelled, but it didn’t appear that anyone heard her. Turning back, she flung a spark at Lura. “Hang out here, we’re almost ready.”

Inside the dome, it was eerily quiet. Being two feet away from Courtley’s jabbering and not hearing her was strange. “Duchess! Get those arrows! Holly, we’re almost ready, get those bombs out!” Bending to pick up a handful of the projectiles, her Mirrorphone buzzed - and Faybelle almost dropped her phone at the caller.

Instead, she answered it, trying to keep the panic at bay. “Hey, Mom!”

“Faybelle.” The Dark Fairy always spoke slowly, deliberately. “Why have you told Cruxa to go to that hay-infested tavern in the wood and hire thugs? With our money? Has something happened to you?”

“No - well, not quite -”

“Have you been ignored for another party? Is there someone we need to curse?”

“No! ... Mother, no, it’s fine, I’m just testing for a sidekick.”

“...what?” She seemed genuinely surprised.

“A sidekick! One of these destiny denying sad sacks want something new, and I can groom them early to be helpful to me!”

“Faybelle - you’re in school! You don’t pick an assistant from the riffraff! What is it that you cannot  _ do, _ anyway?” She took a deep breath. “You are more competent than most people at that school....but even the best need help.”

Even over the phone, the girl cowered at the outburst. “So, you’re not mad?”

“No, darling, I  _ am _ mad. I’m mad that you did not let me know you were doing this. You think I haven’t tested for sidekicks? That I, The Dark Fairy, don’t know what to look for in an assitant?”

She rubbed her eyes, feeling worse all of a sudden. “I...just didn’t want you to be disappointed in me, I wanted to do this on my own, not tell you that I had  _ tried _ to do this and had almost gotten expelled for it.”  _ Oops.  _ Her mother didn’t know that detail.

Silence. “Almost -  _ expelled _ .” There was a hint of the coldness Diamynis reserved for her enemies. “Dear lord, Faybelle, what do I  _ always _ tell you?”

“‘ _ It’s not just one Thorn our enemies get pricked by; A whole thicket of us are always ready’ _ ” The Thorn family was always ready to help out - or brawl.

“What did you do to warrant almost  _ losing your destiny _ ?” So Faybelle told her in a mumble, how she damaged the school, the salon, and almost took Holly’s life. In the end, her mother was silent yet again...before laughing.

“Now, that is my girl.” She said, which made Faybelle swell with pride. The whole thing had not been a waste after all.

“But...reign it in around those pansy princesses, dear. You did  _ almost _ go off book in your haste. Take your time - we are fairies - we aren’t going anywhere any time soon. I appreciate your eagerness, but for now, you have to follow the rules.” 

Faybelle found her wings vibrating furiously in anxiety. “I - I’ll try. But now I’m about to actually test people, so ... gotta go. I’ve got a shield and everything, harmless arrows and smoke bombs.” She added quickly.

“Keep me abreast of things, dear. I know you can do it - you make me prouder than you can ever imagine. I love you, you know.”

Faybelle took a deep breath. “I know. Love you too.” Looking up, she saw Duchess waving to her. “Oh, and Duchess says hi.” She hung up, revitalized that she had her mother’s blessing. “What’s up?”

Wordlessly, she pointed behind her. Courtley and Eddie were several feet away from each other, spells and cards ready to fly and do damage. Hurrying over, Faybelle banged on the shield and gestured them to come in, and they did so, tensely. 

“I’m not even going to ask what the spell that was! You could have messed this thing up before we even started - and I probably would have gotten in trouble again!” 

“We’re just warming up, Faybelle. No harm, no -” Said Eddie shortly.

“Shut it. Go to the edge of the barrier over there,” She pointed to the other side of the tower where the two couldn’t see each other. More waving, and Ortus and Lura were placed on opposite sides of the field as well. If anyone was surprised that the field seemed empty besides the tower, they kept quiet.

Duchess handed a bag of seed to Faybelle, who replied “You’re welcome to get in there and peck and fight if you want.”

“Completely undignified.” She sniffed, before dancing toward the tower. “O’Hair might need some help, and I’m not getting my shoes dirty.”

Faybelle took to the sky, stopping momentarily to grab her megaphone from the tower’s edge. Landing on the top of the tower, she yelled. “Alright - you four are going to rush this tower. Do not aim at the ducks - if you do, I  _ will _ know. There will be spells as well as weapons coming down at you; You can dodge them or fight them - As long as you get up there to answer Holly’s riddle.”

Pointing her megaphone down, she asked, only marginally quieter. “Poppy - you got a good view in there?”

Slightly muffled was the reply. “Duchess is here, so there’s a camera in each window!”

“Lovely.” After weeks of toil, finally, here they were.  “On my mark then - three...two...GO!” 

Faybelle was pleased to see that her traps were cast to perfection and sprang into sight the moment she gave the word. The ground several steps in front of Ortus began to crumble, causing a few ducks to flap away in confusion as it approached him. He backed up for a running start before jumping over, using his sword as a vault. A snake-like figure appeared; As transparent as it looked, it was very solid, and coiled around him as he wrestled with it on the ground.

For a long time, everyone struggled individually. 

Hedges also began to spring up randomly. Eddie would try to step through a portal and find himself walking headfirst into a bush. Impatiently, he whipped his wand around, causing a ring of fire to shoot forth, cutting a circle into the hedge and into a smoke bomb on the other side. Pixies sprang out of the bomb. Using their combined efforts, they picked up the circle of greenery and flung it far to the other side of the field, knocking Courtley to the ground.

“Oh!  _ You _ !” Pushing up, she set the circle on its edge and leaped on top of it, running shakily on it for a few steps, flinging sharp-edged cards at the mechanical dragons that had broken out from the base of the tower, clanking and flying haphazardly, spitting weak wisps of smoke. One veered off course and exploded near Eddie, who was waving his wand wildly while trying to dodge the attacking pixies.

_ Where was Lura?  _

She has hung back, still under the umbrella. Placing it open on the ground after pushing it open backwards, and shielding her eyes with a hand, she fumbled around for something at her hip. A pinch of something on its surface a moment later, and the inside of the umbrella was shooting pure moonlight. Lura aimed it at the Hellhound that had clawed from below and is squealed, running in pain. Another smoke bomb appeared, smothering most of the light, but not before the pixies had seen it.

Ortus got away from the snake, an arrow stabbed in its eye. A seven foot tall topiary rabbit appeared and hopped in front of him, snuffling the ground. He sidestepped it and kept pushing forward, running through Lura’s moonlight blast as a smoke bomb detonated beneath his feet, cutting the light off from blinding a group of pixies, who soon gained their senses back and split into groups, going after both of them. She screamed and ducked quickly behind a short hedge.

Faybelle thought they had a fair amount of potential - Ortus avoided unnecessary messes and used his environment to his advantage, Eddie and Courtley were not afraid to cut someone down - if slightly reckless - and Lura was a competent magic user -  but perhaps all four of them aiming for the tower at once wasn’t the best idea. This was confirmed as, somehow, Courtley’s giant grass-wheel flew into the air and landed on the top of the tower, sticking firmly on the point. Faybelle flew up, worried that it would somehow come crumbling down, but nothing seemed damaged besides the hedge itself.

“I win!” She cried joyfully, sliding down the roof and dangling off the edge from her fingers, giggling at the shocked expressions of Duchess, Holly, and Poppy inside. “Hit me with your ole riddletwister!” She swung inside. 

This renewed the efforts of the remaining contestants. Ortus flashed his sword in the sunlight and tossed it aside, the pixies instantly following the bright metal. He took out a hidden dagger and continued forward through a milling crowd of hedge animals and real ducks. Eddie threw spell after spell in front of him, freezing or frying everything in his immediate path. “A little bit of  _ thought _ , Eddo! You roast a bird, you’re done!” Faybelle yelled from the air. He paused for a moment before freezing a single, long path in front of him.  _ His judgement seems easy to destroy _ . 

Lura took off one of her many bracelets. Putting it to her mouth, she whistled a low, clear sound. A dark, swirling mass rushed forward, dancing around the pixies that threatened her still holding on to the jewelry, she flew in the air, the pixies trapped in her astral net. Whirling them in a circle as she zoomed close, the beings were flung forward, pelting various adversaries in her way. Eddie slid rapidly forward on his ice path, which was quickly cracking as he jumped and fumbled over sliding ducks and arrows. He reached the base of the tower and ran around, locating the door, and rushing within. Covered in bits of twigs and leaves, Ortus soon followed him inside.

Faybelle checked the time; Forty five minutes, and three of them were inside. Lura was taking her time floating up to the tower, all flying obstacles defeated (or emptied; Holly had run out of bombs and arrows), but soon, she was inside. Faybelle began to clean up the area - as in, she called her cheer hexing posse and told them to “Show up and clean up!”. With what she had seen just now, her expectations weren’t shattered one way or the other.

Everyone was deep in thought when she entered the tower. Holly and Poppy pored over the giant book while the contestants tried to figure it out. “Are you done out there?” Asked Duchess, stepping out of Ortus’ path as he paced the floor. When Faybelle nodded, she turned into a swan and flew out of the tower, going to return the ducks to the magic pond. 

They all had their own strange methods of studying; Lura was flying lazily in the air, occasionally spilling fairy dust on those below her. An entire chalkboard had been conjured out of nowhere, and Eddie was marking it with all sorts of complicated calculations in color-changing chalk. Faybelle had expected the riddle to be easiest for Courtley, but the Wonderlander was sitting cross-legged upon the floor, stacking her deck of cards into a complicated tower. “No, no -” She toppled them with a swiper of her hand, “That can’t be so!”

Holly looked up. “This is a really hard brainteaser, Faybelle. It’s almost like  _ The Tale of Summer’s Snow _ ” , but without the goose, goblet of wine, and fireplace. So would that make it more like  _ Proseson’s Ballad _ ?”

Hiding a smile, Faybelle shrugged. “I’ll give you all another half hour - and you’d better be ready!” She flew to the stairwell and descended, sitting on the steps and looking outside.The late afternoon sun gleamed off some mechanical remains, besides that, the field was mostly cleaned. One of the fairies spotted her and, en masse, they rushed toward her.

“So, who’re you gonna pick?”  
“I’m sure anyone you pick will be amazing!”  
“But not as amazing as a fairy.”  
“True, true - but if Faybelle thinks they’re good enough -”

She raised a hand for quiet. “I’m not quite done yet. Tomorrow’s an Enchanted Forest run with...embellishments.” 

The group gasped as one. “Can we help?”

“Anything at all!”  
“We can do some abductions if you like!”

The opposite hand went up this time. “Thanks, girls, but I’m good. However, you can help me by showing me our cheer routine!” Immediately, they scrambled side by side. “Maiden Trap routine! Ready, okay!”

For the next twenty minutes, Faybelle ran them through an impromptu Cheerhexing practice. When they had finished, she flew back up to the room. Besides another two blackboards in the room, nothing had changed. “Time’s up!” She looked at their tired, weary faces. “So, which version of Frexen the Dark assassinated the 14th, 16th, and 24th Reincarnation of The Lady Almarta?”

After a minute of silence, Poppy raised her hand. 

“None of them.”

They all turned to her, shocked. “It says on the third page of the story that Frexen other versions started in his ... headspace? And while the first five had gotten out into the physical world, since they flipped between life and death, even with their talents, on their way to Almarta’s castle, it’s more likely that  _ she _ killed them and the original Frexen embellished his tale.”

Faybelle took the book and flipped to the solutions in the back. Poppy’s answer had been simplified and slightly off, but the gist was right and she was tired of waiting. “More or less...and  _ none _ of you got that! For  _ shame _ .” She gave Poppy a high five. “Nicely done, O’Hair...but you’re not in the running here. So this whole thing was moot.”

She shrugged, grinning. “Sorry. It was just taking so long, you know?”

Turning to the contestants, Faybelle continued, “Alright, tomorrow is the final challenge. Same time, meet by the pens near the Enchanted Forest. Adequate job, guys.” As they tiredly filed out, she hung back with the twins. “You totally cheated, didn’t you Poppy?”

She put her hands on her hips in offense. “Godmother, Faybelle! Haven’t you insulted me enough? I swear, I - I totally did.” She finished sheepishly. “It just made no sense, I wasn’t competing anyway, and I was tired of waiting.” And all three of them burst into laughter.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I forgot last week. Sorry, guys!
> 
> Good news is I am beginning an outline for at least a part of the sequel. Bad news is A) Truth or Hair is going to render it uncanon, which is fine. It's all fanfic, after all, and B) The first chapter may not be up until at least Mid May, because it's a little long and I graduate (partially) on the 6th! And then there's a summer full of certifications for my career field.
> 
> But for now, we do have a good portion of story left!
> 
> You can also see a hint of a fandom I used to write for in here.

The ‘hired thugs’ Cruxa has found for her were not what Faybelle had expected.

They were three foot tall  _ Leporidae,  _ rabbits with slingshots and knives, hares with eyepatches and bandaged paws, who stood on their hind legs and glared at anyone walking by as they leaned on the flowerbox ... and nibbled the greenery.

Faybelle had been in Hocus Latte waiting for them, and when she saw the patchy group show up, she almost left out the back in embarrassment. “Really, Cruxa?  _ Rabbits _ ?” a tiny storm cloud appeared over her head, and nearby patrons began to leave in a hurry. She calmed herself and went out to meet them.  _ Never discount anyone.  _

The tallest hare stepped forward and extended his paw, which Faybelle shook. “Clunworth Kail. Me an’ my boys would be proud to serve ye, majesty - Whoever they are, we’ll gut ‘em, won’t we?” The crowd around them gave a mighty cheer.

Faybelle laughed. “Not today, anyway, but hey. Follow me.” Leading the group, she walked up the path back to the school, taking a left before the wooded bridge, flying down the long path to the stables. She had snickered at the surprised looks of the other students as the armed militia of rodents stormed after her, footpaws thundering on the path. Dragons roared and stomped from their pens as she approached - turning, the group of animals in her wake kept a wary distance back.

“You ain’t havin’ us fight that, are ye?” A small voice said. 

“What? Oh, no no no!” Faybelle quickly flew to the edge of the path, picking up a small, gold flag. “In the forest, I’ve marked off two lines of flags; I need your lot to divide up and keep to them.  Four people will come though - you attack  _ them _ . Don’t wound them too badly, I’ll never hear the end of it. There’s a magical barrier - they can’t cross those flags, but you can.”

The group nodded and laughed, pawing their weapons, checking supplies. “As ye wish, majesty.” Clunworth nodded, turning to his comrades. “Alright, ye get in there, station yerselves near the flags - an’ let a reasonable amount of hell break loose, eh?”

She checked the time - “There’s still about twenty minutes - get in there and position yourselves. Wait for my signal.”

Quickly, the group crouched to all fours and made off into the woods.

The animal pens were mostly empty; Ashlynn and Hunter were brushing a few pegasi, laughing together. Jillian was mixing feed for the dragons, laughing as they snorted around her, poking for the food. Faybelle knew that one day she would enlist dragons in her work, and considered going over there and seeing if any more eggs had arrived - the more powerful dark dragons had already bonded with the environmentally-conscious girls and couldn’t be swayed. After the events of the Dragon Games, the flying reptiles had surged in popularity, with many students eager to care for one in the hopes of hatching their own egg one day. The waiting list was at least two years long. Of course, Faybelle wouldn’t be caught dead scrapping and waiting for one to train, but she thought about names anyway - _ Ripling, Fangarous _ \- 

Ten minutes and several thousand gold pieces worth of dragon armor later, Poppy came with Courtley. “Howdy, Faybelle!” Sang Courtley. “Or, should I say, ‘boss’?” She giggled.

“No one else is here yet?” Asked Poppy. Faybelle shook her head. “Wow...also, Lura told me to tell you that she’s had to drop out.”

“ _ What _ ? Why?”

“Since following your destiny is, well, cut to shreds, we’re allowed to see what part we would play in the Storybook of Legends. She found out that she is going to be the Godmother of The Starlight Daughter.” Courtley was stretching to the side.

“Ugh, so, I guess being my assistant isn’t worth giving up being the wish-granter to a little orphaned princess in some third tier tale!”

“I heard it all the time growing up.” She shrugged. “Nona would point out the tower and go ‘Which one of those is the Starlight Girl? And me and Holly would point to random stars up there and pretend she was our -” Suddenly, she stopped. Faybelle suspected she was talking about her lost mother and fought back the urge to tell her to continue.

Before the silence got too awkward, a deck of playing cards fluttered over them. “Oops! Get back here, you lot!” With a snap of her fingers, Courtley’s cards went neatly into her hand. 

“Hello, hello!” Soon, Ortus and Eddie were walking from the stables, a few new cuts added to their arms and faces after the day before.

“Why, you seem far more chipper than yesterday!” Said Courtley.

“I like to think the toughest part is done.” Eddie said with a wink, “And we heard about Lura.”

“Good for her.” Nodded Ortus. “Finding your calling is always good.”

“And finding less competition also takes a piece of the pie!” He looked around. “Are we ready to proceed?”

Faybelle rolled her eyes. “More or less.” He had the same problem as Thea; Slyly trying to take control, rush things alone. She knew that whatever happened, Eddie would not be chosen. “Here’s the deal - stay within these flags while you make your way through the woods. It’ll be over when you reach a clearing with Poppy and I waiting, though I’ll be watching you on occasion.” The mumbly, chittery pixies had been given small video recorders on loan from the AV group.

“That can’t be the whole challenge.”  Said Ortus.

“You’re darn right it isn’t. I’m not  going to tell you what’s to come, you just have to make it though. Look at the bright side; It’s  _ way _ easier than yesterday.”

The three lined up, eyeing one another as they stayed within the boundary. Eddie turned back. “Hey, so how long is this going to take? I have a gig at five -”

An airhorn sounded, a clip from Faybelle’s phone. “Evil doesn’t give warnings! Go, go, go!” Stumbling forward, they made off through the trees. A minute later, and the sound of yelling and whooping rabbits reached them.

“What have you done?” Said Poppy slowly. 

“Oh, just hired some bar thugs to rough ‘em up a bit.” Faybelle replied lightly. “Hold onto my arm - watch the bracelet -” She stomped her feet and began a cheer. “ _ We’re going to be disappearing; Take us to that woodland clearing! _ ”

Teal smoke enveloped them - if nothingness had a feeling, it would be that brief, floaty sensation that was magical apparition - and within seconds, they stood in an open part of the forest that had a few picnic tables and birdfeeders. Poppy let go of Faybelle and walked unevenly, leaning onto a tree and dry heaving. “I - think I’ll walk next time -” 

Faybelle dug in her bag and took out something wrapped in cellophane. “Here - anti magic travel sickness tablet.” 

Within a few minutes, Poppy felt better. “Thanks, Fay.” She looked toward the trees, seeing the small, brightly colored forest pixies hop through the trees with small devices. “Why not just hire Blondie to record?”

“The only time I want her help is if it ends with her poisoned at the end.” Laughed Faybelle. “Exposing the contestants made things worse.”

“You think so?”

“Well, yeah! If they hadn’t known about each other, we could have really seen them fight to the semi death!”

“Nothing really stopped them there,” Poppy pointed out. “They still didn’t go after each other most of the time, but the goal.”

She shrugged. “Alright, you got me there. But she stole my private notes and broadcast them to everyone.”

“Blondie  _ found _ your notebook - but yeah, she invaded your privacy. They weren’t hers to talk about.”

“Exactly! I should totally put a spell on my journals - anyone who even opens them has their hands break out in scales until I remove it. Which I wouldn’t.”

Poppy laughed, then stopped as her Mirrorphone buzzed and she answered. “Holly! What’s up - I thought you were lunching with Cedar.”

The speakerphone was on, and her voice was clear. “She had to finish an art project. I tried to help, but the clay got in my hair.” She finished sheepishly. “You weren’t at the salon, but I remembered you’d be out here today.” The sound of ruffling leaves and a “Hi, ducks!” came through the phone.

“Where are you?”

More snapping branches. “In the woods somewhere - I know Faybelle marked her place with the flags, so I just went through them.”

“You were supposed to walk on the  _ outside _ of them -” Poppy was nervous now, twisting a strand of hair. “You’re right in the battlefield, Holly! Stay on the line -” She turned to Faybelle. “What’s going on in there?” She yelled. “I know you, Faybelle - it’s probably bad -”

There was no time to bask in the compliment. “Uh - mercenaries - they’re going to attack anyone who walks through those flags - Poppy!” Before she could finish, the stylist was pushing through the woods, thoughts of her own safety abandoned.

Faybelle sat on a table top, idly applying sunscreen to her wings. She thought about calling after her, telling Poppy that her goons had been hired to maybe give a puncture wound or a broken bone, not slaughter. That Holly would be just fine. She was mildly fond of Holly, but not enough to rush foolishly into a battle.  _ Who runs into a forest with thirty pounds of hair and no defense anyway?  _

But she did consider Poppy a friend, and being shut out from her again would annoy her. With a bored sigh, she climbed over long, clawing branches, following the impromptu path Poppy had pushed through. The ruckus was getting quite loud, with shrieking and yelling, but not enough to worry. “Which way?” She shouted to a bird pixie perched in a tree. They gave a loud chirp and began to hop on the branches. 

Most of the pixies were chattering excitedly in the woods, recording Faybelle as she picked her way though, feeling a jolt of panic every time something gave a scream. There was the cheering and yelling of a loud group in front of her - approaching quickly, she took in the scene for a few seconds - and then she burst out into the clearing.

 Ortus, Eddie, and Poppy were surrounding Holly defensively, as she stood shaking with twigs and leaves stuck in her hair.. The group of animals were around them, weapons aimed.

“ _What on earth are you doing?_ ”  


Courtley stood nearby, slightly confused, believing Faybelle’s words were direct to her. “Was this part of the test, Faybelle? Did I fail?” 

"Shut it. You." Faybelle pointed to Ortus. "What's this?"

Ortus shrugged, sunlight shifting over his body. “ Holly was screaming like a banshee through here while this lot chased her and us.”

“As they were  _ supposed _ to.” She spat. “Well, not Holly.”

“We could handle them, but she wasn’t part of this - ” Began Eddie.

Courtley hooted. “Unless we were  _ supposed _ to rescue her from the lawless bandits!”

“Uh, newsflash - evil doesn’t save anyone except their closest allies, loved ones, and yes, their employer, aka, _me_! Not princesses who walk off the beaten path!” She stood annoyed, hands on hips. What a bunch of do good  _ losers _ . “That’s that, then. Both of you are disqualified.” Ortus nodded understandingly while Eddie frowned. 

The outcome was beginning to dawn onto the remaining contestant. "So...does that mean..."

“Yes; by some miracle, I guess you, Courtley, will be my new assistant.”

The Joker Card jumped in the air, shooting confetti from her hands. “Huzzah! I did it, I won!” She danced around as everyone shared their congratulations. Faybelle didn't engage in the festivities.

Clunworth stepped forward. “Is...that all, Yer Darkness? We got a domino tournament back ‘ome soon.” His gang shifted awkwardly from footpaw to footpaw.

A disinterested hand wave. “You’re dismissed. The gold should be back at your bar.” 

With a short bow, the coalition took off through the forest, headed for the main path.

“Well, thank you for the opportunity.” Eddie said, as Ortus nodded. “I need to visit Thread and Spindle anyway.” He eyed the frayed edges of his sweater vest. “You know, Ort, they have a nice set of brass ornaments that would go wonderfully with your coat.”

Ortus extended a hand. “After you.” Together, they pushed back the way they came.

“We’d better get to the salon.” Said Poppy, grimacing as she picked up armfuls of Holly’s Hair. “This is going to take all night...unless I just cut it.” 

Her sister let out a wail.

“Oh, it would grow back overnight! After all, having short hair is fun!” She looked around. “Er...can I ask a favor, Faybelle?”

“You can try.”

“Well, this hair - this forest - it’s a disaster - can you transport us to the salon?”

Faybelle pretended to think about it. “Sure, why not?” The three held on to her arm as she gathered a pinch of power - “ _ Since this ordeal is dead and gone, send us to that hair salon!” _


	17. Chapter 17

The longer Courtley was her sidekick, Faybelle was more uncertain if she was going to work out. She was so painfully eager to do something evil, emailing her plans five and six times a day, dogging her footsteps when they were outside of class. Bunny had almost jumped out of her shoes when she left the dorm to see Courtley standing at attention. The plans were foolishly amateur, and one day, as Courtley jabbered away at breakfast about replacing Grimm with a bowl of gelatin, Faybelle had enough.

“Good Godmother, Courtley - shut up!” She threw her spoon in her porridge, Duchess jumped with a honk as Courtley stopped quickly. Seeing the hurt look on her face, she continued, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Look, you’re my sidekick, but you don’t have to stick to me like some hairy wart.”

The points on her hat drooped. “I was just happy to be doing bad again - really bad.” She continued in a small voice.

“The only bad thing you’re doing is  _ annoying _ me. We’ve got years and years to get ready for burning crops, raising the forces of evil, and poisoning  _ whoever _ will be Sleeping Beauty these days. Who the hex knows. Leave the planning to me - that’s my job, and I’m better at it than you, anyway.” 

“I’ll have you know, I was  _ this _ close to taking the throne of Wonderland!” 

She took a sip of juice. “But you didn’t actually  _ succeed _ .” She continued coolly before regretting it slightly. “Look, I’m sure another earth-shattering event will hit our school, and then we’ll be in position to establish ourselves as the greatest evil  _ not _ in a mirror. Just do your best in General Villainy.” She gave a tight smile, and stiffly reached out to pat her shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

Courtley looked like she would snap something back, but she deflated. “I guess I can be a  _ weeee _ bit overbearing.” She said. “You’re right, it’s your lead I’m to follow.”

“If you think  _ you’re _ overbearing, you really don’t know Fay.” Mumbled Duchess, who honked again as Faybelle kicked her under the table. 

They all took out their General Villainy homework and Faybelle was impressed with Courtley’s answers on the Assisting Your Superior worksheet. “See? you look to be really hexcellent at this. Now, let’s start small, how do you think we can lock Grimm out of his office for a school day?”

A plan was hatched; Distract Grimm with something petty and lock his office from the inside - but not without snooping around and checking for goodies first.

“So, how good are you at imitating others?”

“You see this?” Courtley took out a playing card, slightly bigger than the rest. “With this beauty, I can change my appearance to anyone else in school! Voice an’ all!” she passed it in front of her face, and suddenly Mrs. Her Majesty The White Queen’s face shone through the card. “ _ Faaaaaaaybellllllle _ !” She sang in a screechy voice.

The fairy couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, alright! Let’s get going - there’s work to be done.”

Morning classes passed slowly; Faybelle knew the material and spent most of the time pestering her classmates, including breaking a teacup and getting the remains mixed into Raven’s purse undetected during Evilnomics and giving a report in General Villainy about her finding a sidekick. When the lunch hour approached, she and Courtley met up a hallway beneath Grimm’s office at the top of the school.

“Exactly as we said, okay? You remember?” 

“Yes, Faybelle, it was only, what, four hours ago? I got it, I  _ got _ it!” She twirled the card in front of her face and her appearance changed. Instead of the tall, gangly girl, she was short and curvy Apple White, all rosy cheeks and optimism. “How do I look?” She stuck her hands out and spun around.

“Annoying. Perfect, let’s go.” 

Moments later, Faybelle hovered in the shadows of the ceiling as ‘Apple’ knocked on the door, and Grimm appeared after a few moments. He bowed quickly. “Your Highness - To what do I owe this visit?”

“Headmaster, my mother’s dwarves have arrived to help with repairing the stables.” Faybelle had to admit that Courtley’s simpering as Apple was quite convincing. Maybe she was playing off of the guilt the princess had for the events of the Dragon Games. “They also said something about adding a second one for dragons, but I thought I would double check with you.”

“As you should have...but they are quite early.” He mused. “Lead the way, my dear, I’ll sort this out.” He began asking about preparations for various school events Apple was in charge of, and Courtley had her answers ready. When the pair left, Faybelle floated down and shook the handle. Locked, as expected. She took a playing card out of her purse and ran it through the crack in the door; With a small spark, the lock clicked, and Faybelle pushed it open gently. 

There were papers scattered among the desk; A quick glance told Faybelle it was some business calculations. She cast an eye over things until she saw a folder marked  _ Celebrations _ .

Flipping it open, the top page had the bold header of 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF EVER AFTER HIGH.  There were notes for having the previous class of fairytales come visit for the event. Snow White was listed at the top, as was Sleeping Beauty. The rest of the list was incomplete, but there was a note -  _ See; Birthday Ball. _

Shuffling through the papers, Faybelle found the appropriate page; A birthday party for Holly and Poppy in a local party venue in the village - The Palace Steps - planned for a date roughly five days in advance. She knew that for events, everything had to go through Grimm, as it was still considered a school event . The guest list, the caterers, the entertainment. Security had to be scheduled. With such a short time window, most things would already be completed...including the invitations, something she hadn’t received.

Even though Faybelle knew everyone forgot to invite her to their celebrations - part of her family curse - she was slightly hurt that Poppy hadn’t tried, even though she knew something would prevent her from actually asking. 

What she did know now is that it was happening. And from another glance at the list, she knew exactly who to talk to in order to find some more details on how best to crash a birthday party.

Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at it quickly. 

_ [Joking_xx]: Grimm is coming back! I made him ‘drop’ his key in the woods - i’ve got it, now get outta there! _

Without a word, Faybelle straightened the papers and returned the folder to the pile before locking the door from the inside and closing it behind her.

_ [xxDark_Faybellexx]: Nice work. We’re done for now, take the day off. _

She had to make some rounds.

“Oh - yeah, I knew about it.”

Faybelle glared at her best friend as they made their way through Book End. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t even going to go until I realized it was an excuse to buy a new outfit. What’s the big deal?” She shrugged. “It slipped my mind.”

“And if it hadn’t  _ slipped _ , I wouldn’t have to do all of this.”

“Well, why don’t you just fly up there and ask Poppy about it instead of all this sneaky nonsense?” Duchess said, rolling her eyes. “You know it isn’t even her fault she didn’t invite you.”

“Because, how better is it than to have a future Queen of Dark Magic crash your party? She’ll never forget it!” Faybelle said happily, “What do you think they want for a present?”

Duchess shrugged as they approached the store. “I got them some swan-feather barrettes. They’re really cute, I might just keep them for myself.”

The Glass Slipper Shoe Shop was run by Ashlynn Ella, who was restocking in the display window. Seeing the two, she smiled and waved to them as they entered. “Hey Duchess, Faybelle. What’s up?”

Duchess crossed her arms and looked around nonchalantly. “Not much - Oooh.” A pair of lavender heels caught her eye and she walked to the display. “Do you have these in a ten?”

“Sure - did you want something, Faybelle?” Ashlynn asked as the fairy buzzed by.

“Oh, no, I’m good...I found her.”  _ Her _ was Briar, sleeping on a large pouf, surrounded by piles of boxes and shoes. Bending over her, Faybelle gently picked up her crownglasses from her face and tapped her on the head. “Briar.  _ Psssssssst _ , Briar.”

After a moment with no response, Faybelle got bored and began to stack up boxes around Briar like a coffin. She only stopped when Briar jerked awake and knocked half the boxes down upon her. “Augh!”

She cackled. “Hey, Briar.”

The princess looked up and snatched her glasses back, annoyed. “Faybelle. Of course.” She yawned. “Besides that Nursery Rhyme trick...you want something?”

Faybelle took a seat beside her. “I sure do, buddy. I know you’re planning Holly and Poppy’s birthday party.”

Briar jumped and folded her hands nervously. “Uh, what? No, not me -”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be so panicky, it’s what you do, isn’t it? Plan parties I’m  _ never _ invited to...”

“No way, I’m not telling you a thing if you’re going to crash it out of spite.” Briar stood up, glaring at her. “Why are you so spellbent on bothering them?”

“I’m not gonna do that, I swear on my destiny.” Faybelle raised her hands defensively. “Well, I’m gonna show up, but I just want to know the deets, see what kind of present I should bring, dress attire, all that.”

Briar relaxed slightly, knowing how serious that was to her. “Really?”

“Yeah, me and Poppy, we’re friends now - and Holly too, I guess.” Faybelle sighed and looked to the side. “Briar, I swear - I haven’t _ gone good _ or whatever, but I just want to show up, you know? And party. For once.”

Briar took out her Mirrorpad and brought up a Pixtrest board of various photos of irritatingly bright baked goods. “It’s almost circus-y.” She said. “Bright, sweet, shimmery stuff.”

“How is that different from what most of you normally wear?” Sniffed Faybelle.

“Well, Cedar and Rosabella have these really neat dresses that smell like pastries! And, rumor has it that the twins will have some as well. Totes. Hexcellent.”

“That  _ is _ pretty cool.” Faybelle tried to feign indifference, but it  _ was _ pretty neat. “Maybe i’ll show up smelling like mint.”

Opening a box, Briar showed off a pair of high boots with a twisted vine rolling up the heel. “I’m torn between these aaaaand these.” A pair of heels seemed of magically appear in her other hand, silver with a speckling of sparkles at the toe. “Eh? Eh?”

“Definitely the boots.” Briar pulled out yet another box, and for the next five minutes, the two decided between shoes, finally ending up with a pair completely unrelated to the first. Faybelle appreciated the glitter, not so much the violent pinks.

The buzz of a Mirrorphone; Briar checked her screen and gasped. “Oh - Godmother - the dress fitting! It’s in thirty minutes!” She looked toward the front of the store. “Ash! Can you make it?”

Tottering under a tall stack of boxes, her head poked around them. “Uh, not at this rate, Briar, go on without me! Tell the girls we’ll talk later!”

Briar stood up and began to place the boxes back. “Of course  -  _ You _ wouldn’t want to come, would you.”

“Me? Oh  _ no _ .” Faybelle fluttered her eyelashes, crossing her arms dismissively. “Don’t want to scare you little pretty princesses so early. Speaking of which -” She lowered herself until she was eye to eye with her fairytale adversary. “This little conversation we had? Didn’t happen.”

“Sure.” Briar rolled her eyes and kept cleaning as Faybelle made her way toward the door.

“C’mon, Duchess! We’re done!”

She scowled. “ _ We _ nothing, I’m in the middle of something here!” Duchess replied, admiring a sparkling sandal in her hands. Swearing under her breath, she left the store, flying slowly. Faybelle didn’t quite so many moments alone these days with practice, clubs, and training Courtley. There was still a revision of the villain manifesto to go over, and with the news of the party, she would have to plot anew.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot last week :x I can't imagine it being any better next week, as I have finals and pseud-graduation.

“Ging.  _ Ginger _ .”

Faybelle knew she was heard, but Ginger Breadhouse was firmly looking ahead in the cooking classroom as Baba Yaga was speaking. Both Home Evilnomics and Cooking Class-ic students had been brought together to listen about poisoning and recognizing malicious baked goods.

“Why are you pretending to pay attention anyway? You don’t want to poison anyone.” Reaching over, she swiped a finger through the frosting in her mixing cauldron and tasted it. Honeysuckle Buttercream - and it didn’t taste half bad.

“Because it’s  _ class _ and I should  _ pay attention  _ \- as should you.”

She was right; So Faybelle turned to Courtley, whispering abruptly. “Take notes.”

Her sidekick nodded enthusiastically, took out a notebook, and began writing in color changing ink.

“What are you baking for the Birthday Ball?” She stared down the Candy Witch. “Spill.”

Used to such tactics, Ginger picked up her cauldron and shuffled a few inches to the left

“You think I’m going to hurt them, right?”

“Well...it’s just you being you, isn’t it?” Ginger tasted her own frosting before frowning and adding a few drops more of vanilla. “Nothing wrong with that...I just don’t want to be an accomplice.”

“You’re gonna be today - are you making a cake?”

Her eyes lit up, and she looked around guiltily. “Maybe.”

“I bet it’s neat.” Faybelle pressed, knowing that her oldest friend could not resist talking about baked goods. “I know you, Ging, you’re the best. It probably looks and tastes amazing.”

She laughed quietly. “Well, there’s several options. Coconut chocolate cream, angel food, vanilla bean, a cake made of sugar cookies - There’s going to be a tasting tomorrow during break.”

Faybelle frowned. “That’s during cheer practice. Not that  _ I _ would come - I don’t want them to know I know until the big day -”

“But Holly is on the squad.” Ginger nodded. “I know. I’ll tell her I told you - but not about the party.”

“That’s my girl. Let me guess, since Briar is planning this, she’s going, and be tagging alongside Apple, right?”

Another nod. “She’s been very involved for it - Holly is so excited to have her help!”

Faybelle laughed to herself.  _ I bet the little fangirl is _ . “Hext me whatever they pick -” The words stopped suddenly. She tried to start again, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Miss Thorn!” Baba Yaga’s voice crackled in the room. “Surely you were explaining the Five Qualities of a Near Death Poison to Miss Breadhouse. How about you share it with everyone?”

Being put on the spot was nothing new for Faybelle, and she stood up, quickly running through them. “Clear as death, tasteless too, pinches of groundwort equivalent to the weight of the victim, a kiss of darkness,  _ aaaaaand _ ...the blessing of a Dark Fairy.” She winked at the class. “I charge five gold pieces per blessing -”

“That’s enough, sit down.”  The Professor replied irritably before continuing her lecture.

Ducking a little behind the cauldron, she whispered quick instructions to Ginger to keep her updated on the party selections. It wasn’t about monitoring the sweets, but the more knowledge one had about the venue to crash, the better prepared she could be. Leaning back over toward Courtley, an order was given; Make a note that they had to go scope out the party room when it was empty.

“Right-o.” Faybelle looked at the notebook - instead of words, it was filled with drawings of Wonderlandian animals and inhabitants in shimmering colors. 

“These - aren’t - !” Faybelle hissed, her wings vibrating to almost unseeable speed before slowing down. She put her arms on the desk and put her head down. “Never mind.”

* * *

 

“Where is this place? We’ve been walking for  _ hours _ .”

In reality, it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes, but it was nineteen minutes too long for Courtley.

“Pipe down! It’s...a street behind the bookstore, almost near the houses.” Faybelle squinted and turned her Mirrorphone. “I wonder if it’s the same room the True Hearts Day dance was?”

“Ooh, what was that?” That holiday had returned to school far before Courtley had arrived.

“Some sappy ‘ _ I wuv youuu _ ’ romance nonsense. I didn’t go.” The phone let out an eager beep, and the pair looked up to see a tall building, with three rectangular, long, windows at it’s top. “I’ve never seen this place before.”

“Well, if they have parties here, you wouldn’t, eh?” Laughing, Courtley opened the door and skipped in, prompting Faybelle to follow. The inside was minimalist and quite modern, surprising for a place in Book End. Two stairways curved slightly as they arched toward a pair of double doors far above, a large golden fountain of shooting stars gushing water between them. A hallway was to the right, leading to presumably small rooms.

“ _ Does anybody work here? _ ” Yelled Faybelle through cupped hands. 

The tail end of her sentence echoed to no reply. 

“Up and away, then.” She flew up a stairway as Courtley followed, hopping up two steps at a time.

Faybelle’s intuition buzzed; This was definitely the room -

The doors opened to sheer black curtains draped along the walls and a plain marble floor. There was a pair of doors leading to a balcony on the left, and another pair of doors on the wall across from them. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.

 “Fancy, fancy.” Mumbled Courtley, staring at it in awe.

Faybelle investigated the curtains. “I hope they keep these.” She ducked behind one. “Can you see me?”

Courtley squinted at her and looked closely. “Do a spell! A shimmery one, so maybe people  _ think _ you’re there, but they’re not quite sure.”

“Good idea.” A quick spell was said.

“Now you look kind of like a flickery old video.” She giggled. “Do you think they’ll use the balcony?”

“More than likely.” A thought struck her, something she hadn’t considered. “Hey, Courtley - were  _ you _ invited to this thing?”

“You know - I don’t know. Haven’t checked my mail in a while.” She took off one of her gloved hands and looked inside, shaking it a little before reaching in a pulling out a letter. “Well - I see I  _ have _ _!_ This is so exciting, I’ve never been invited anywhere before!”

Faybelle ran a hand down her face in exasperation. “Of course.” It was just like the two to extend a welcoming hand to the new girl. “Why did I not ask before? You have to RSVP - you’ll be my spy on the inside until I make my entrance -”

A loud banging sounded from outside the room, and laughter began to echo in the entryway. “I think we’d best get out of here. After all, we’ve got dresses to buy...” She wasn’t sure who it was, but people always got panicky when they say Faybelle in a place of mass gathering - she didn’t need that today.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Truth or Hair came out yesterday.

Faybelle acted normally around Holly and Poppy. When she usually confronted people about misplaced invitations, she got a sympathetic look and an apology, and a promise to make it up - which was irritating beyond belief. Not only did she not appreciate the pity, no one ever kept their word.

She showed them the dress she was considering at lunch in the Castleteria three days before the event - black, sleeveless, but gathered at her neck via a silver choker. The skirt would sit bell-shaped, but end in tatters, with a white underskirt bunched beneath the strands. “It’s for an informal family dinner, and I’m still working on accessories and shoes -  but wouldn’t it be  _ perfect _ for a  _ birthday party _ ?”

“That’s really adorable.” Said Holly. “Flirty, but vicious.”

“It suits you -” Poppy stopped and blinked rapidly. “Funny, I thought I had something to ask you. Guess not.”

“Oh, you can hext me, it’s totally fine.” Faybelle laughed awkwardly, standing up. “I’ve got to go - er - drop Spindle off at daycare.”  She lied. Out of sight in the hallway, she found an open window to sit in and sent out a message through MyChapter;

_ Eddie. Are you booked on Saturday night? _

She scrolled down her feed; Plenty of students showed off wrapped presents with teasing notes. Many filters were plastered over pictures of artful shots of dresses and shoes. Everything clearly alluded to a single event taking place over the weekend -

The Instant Message bubble popped up;  _ If you’re asking if i’m working the O’Hair party....I am. Not thinking of crashing, are we Faybelle? I thought you three were on good terms now! _

This guy was even pompous over text.

_ Not at all...I simply want to surprise my friends with my arrival...Are you just pulling magic tricks? _

He responded with an eyerolling emoji. _ Yes...that’s why they hired me. Light shows, the like. _

_ And where will you be? _

_ At a guess, somewhere in a dark corner. The best magicians let their work speak for them. I don’t  _ need _ to be seen. _

Faybelle could practically see him grit his teeth while typing that, the arrogance was  _ that _ strong.  _ If I give you a signal, would you be willing to help my entrance?  _

_.... How so? _

_ A bit of smoke, a little introduction, blue sparks, black dragon apparitions. I’ll do the rest. _

His reply took a while to come.  _ Do you think the twins would appreciate this? It is  _ their _ birthday...no, i’m sorry, Faybelle. _

With a scowl, she exited from the app. “Forget you too, then!” She hissed. 

Fine. That was fine - she would just have Courtley get Eddie out of the way, lock him in a cupboard for a few millennia, and use his wand to make her entrance. But now, she dropped out of the window, wings flapping rapidly as she headed toward the sporting fields for an early cheer practice.

Nina, Farrah, and Hunter were there, as were her fairies, who were gossiping in a separate group. They broke out into applause when she took the field. “Faybelle, Faybelle, she’s our girl -”

“Run the routine we did at Regionals. Half speed! Lax practice today, something came up, but excellence never takes a holiday! Not  _ you _ three.” She added shortly, as the others began to warm up. 

Farrah hunched over and looked awkwardly down at her captain. “A-are we in trouble?”

“Nah...What did you get Holly and Poppy for their birthday? All of you. Now.”

“I - I got them silver necklaces. Kind of like my tiara.” Farrah tapped her head with her wand. “I really hope they like them.”

“Ashlynn got them some nice shoes. I’m just tagging along with her.” Hunter shrugged.

“I’m going to make them a lovely flower garland! And if they don’t take care of it, it will become sentiment and pollinate all over their room.” Nina nodded like that was perfectly reasonable.

“Great! I think I’ll take the necklaces!” She smirked at their confused expressions. “What, do you think  _ I’m _ going to shop for them? You can show up at my dorm before curfew, Farrah.”

“I - you want me to give you my present? And put your name on it?”

“What part of that wasn’t clear?”

“No, Faybelle. I’ll be happy to help you shop, but you won’t take my credit.” She turned and began to fly toward the fairies, who were clearly eavesdropping as they sloppily went through their routine.

“What if we  _ split _ the credit?” When Farrah didn’t turn around, Faybelle turned to the other two, who were staring at her in disbelief. “Any takers? Come on ... ”

Laughing, the two jogged back to the group and began to work.  _ Curse such short notice.  _ She didn’t want an ordinary gift from one of the tacky stores in town, and there wasn’t enough time to dungeon crawl for the treasure of an goblin lord - 

That was almost it - A dungeon wouldn’t do ... but she knew what would.

Her present had been placed on the premises of the party grounds - carrying it with her through her magical entrance would only put it at risk. 

_ I’m not getting that paint all over  _ this _ ensemble.  _

Faybelle’s hair was twisted into a bun with her blue streaks dangling from the sides of her face. A tiara of silver thorns sat on her head that matched the dragon ring on her right index finger. An elaborate pattern was drawn over her left eye to match the right that continually shimmered like blue opal. Her boots had been traded for strappy silver heels that wound up her calves. It had taken hours to outline the veins in her wings with a special pencil, but the effect was like a broken glass window.

“Are you even  _ close _ to being done, Courtley?” She said over her phone. “Even Bunny already left.”

“Open up!” Sang a voice from the hallway and her phone simultaneously.

Putting in a pair of dangling, black cross earrings, Faybelle opened the door to see Duchess and Courtley, a present in each hand.

“You look like you’re about to summon a demon.” Said Duchess shortly, her multicolored hair dyed a nonthreatening pastel purple. Her purplish-white dress sat beneath a large interwoven metal necklace. They began walking.

“I just might - Wow.” 

It was hard to take in all of Courtley at once. Multiple patterns and colors of card suites were on the legs of her pants. Her ringleader jacket was bright purple with two large, glittering lions yelling at each other amid a colorful circus. Her hair was pulled to the side in a low ponytail and streaked with purple and green. “What do you think?” She said, shouting over the jingling of her hat. “I tried to get shoes shaped like a circus bike, but time just wasn’t with me.” Her boots had party hats tied around the toes.

“Absolutely noisy and attention seeking. Nicely done.” Faybelle smiled to show she meant in genuinely. “You know what to do, right?”

“Find and dance with Daring.” Sighed Duchess dreamily.

Faybelle let out a single chuckle. “If that’s your low bar, okay. Courtley?”

She giggled. “Distract Eddie and lock him away! Lock him away!”

“And how are you going to do that?” Normally Faybelle would oversee every step of an evil plan, but she wanted to see what Courtley was capable of on her own.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Courtley winked and jumped over the banister of the stairs, landing neatly in the main hall of the school. It was mostly empty except for a few late stragglers like themselves. 

“I better cloak up.” Sighed Faybelle. She wanted everyone to see her, but not before it was time. “I’m still here.” Now invisible, she hovered a few feet above and behind the two.

The closer they got to Book End, the more they could see the festivities taking place in the sinking sun. Balloons and streamers hung from nearly every tree, with Kitty Cheshire batting them as she jumped from branch to branch. The glee club stood in the plaza and sang various contemporary hits over the thudding bass of speakers. Courtley ran ahead, swept up in the excitement, whooping and hollering, leaving Duchess and an invisible Faybelle behind.

Duchess investigated the wrapping on her present. “Do you think Rapunzel herself may be here? She never comes out to big events, but they are her daughters.”

“Well, since she’s missing, I doubt that.”

“ _ Missing _ ?” Duchess’ eyes lit up, excited at a juicy secret. “How do  _ you _ know that?”

Faybelle smirked knowingly, then remembered Duchess couldn’t see her. “Tell you later.” Passing a set of tables outside of Hocus Latte, she swiped the cup of an unattentive guest and took a sip. White mocha - not the best, not the worst - 

She almost fell out of the air as a nearby speaker screeched with feedback. “ _ Book End’s biggest Birthday Ball of the year is about to begin! If you’re part of the party, head on to The Palace Steps and make your way to the large ballroom! Please leave your clearly labeled presents in the entryway _ .”

The crowd was moving at a reasonable pace in front of the party building. VIP parking for royalty was packed with fancy carriages and limousines, with a single spot reserved near the front for the birthday girls. Many people took photos in front of them and posted them to various social media accounts. Faybelle saw Blondie with blue hair hovering around the crowd, interviewing people about their relationship with the twins and keeping viewers all over the greater Ever After area updated with arrivals. She carefully avoided the cameras - no doubt one could see through her spell - and flew around the building, aiming for the balcony.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here is our stunning almost conclusion!

The doors were open, and just within their boundary was the food table. Landing lightly, Faybelle cast an eye over the goods; Ginger had seriously outdone herself, with a variety of cookies, cupcakes, and tiny pastries beside a four-tier cake decorated with waves of hair made of fondant. A pair of scissors stuck out of the top, blades-deep, as well as a writing quill’s feather.

The dance floor was quickly filling with people; Book End residents and students alike danced to the latest thumping tunes Melody spun in a far corner. Sparks flashed over the crowd in time with the tune - Faybelle saw that Eddie was off to the side, casting spells as he danced with the beat. She dialed Courtley.

“Howdy, Fay!” She shouted over the noise. “Man, this is sure some shindig, isn’t it? Where are you?”

She looked over the table onto the dance floor; People weren’t very close to her location, but she didn't like it. “I won’t say, too many ears - So, you’re in the hall?”

“Sure am! I checked on your present - it really looks spiffy!”

“Good. Keep an eye on Eddie over there - watch for him to get tired -”

“Hey, hey, hey now, I told you I had a plan!” Courtley pouted.

Faybelle rolled her eyes. “ _What is it,_ then?”

A pause. Then she spoke in a stage whisper. “Well, wait for him to get tired and snag his wand for you. I can knock him out - I have a potion -”

“ _No_. Just .... hit him over the head or something. I’m this close to being expelled already, we don’t need _potions_ involved -” A great cheer came from both her speaker and the dancefloor. “Make it look like an accident!”

Holly and Poppy had entered through the doors on the opposite side to overwhelming applause that took almost a minute to die down.  “Thank you, thank you friends!” Holly said, waving a gloved hand. Her purple sleeveless dress stopped at the knee, with a train outlined in gold and maroon. Red tulle burst out of her dress top, matching the large bow in her braided hair. “You’re having fun, right?”. The response was a roar of applause.

“We’re really happy so many of you could make it!” Poppy continued. “Seriously, keep on partying on, don’t let us stop you!” It was hard for Faybelle to see her face - her spiky hair, dyed a deep-sea blue, flared around her face. “Also - eat some of those treats, they’re _amazing_ -”

At that prompting, a crowd began to rush the table. Faybelle had to leap onto the fancy handrail to avoid being ran into as the food quickly disappeared. When the initial rush subsided, Poppy walked over, her metallic black bubble dress shimmering in the light above her electric-blue boots. “You’d think they’ve never eaten.” She laughed, and began to take out her phone when Blondie suddenly appeared, looking a bit disheveled with her Mirrorpad.

“Poppy! First of all - Happy b-day.” The words tumbled out, and she adjusted the bow on her head. “So - you like the turnout so far? Seen the present pile? No unhexpected guests so far?”

“Thanks, Blondie - and yeah,” She waved to the camera. “It seems like nearly all of Book End is here. Hi Nona! Thanks for those dragonscale necklaces!” A gesture to her neck; The black scales glittered. “We’re about to play a game of Secret Potion - c’mon, Blondie!”

Faybelle noticed how she sidestepped the last question. This invisibility spell was wearing her down; Grabbing a cookie and a pinch of fairy dust, she sprinkled the food and ate it within two bites. Almost immediately, the telltale buzzing of magic beneath her skin began to pulse stronger, but she still needed to get the wand quickly.  Standing outside was getting her nothing but a chill; Flying over the table, she took to the ceiling, avoiding streamers and balloons in the air, looking down.

Briar stood at a table, ten goblets of punch in front of her, no doubt explaining the rules of the game - whoever drinks the potion and turns into a mouse would be out for the round. Faybelle preferred _her_ version where people sprouted twisted, black horns and grew violently ill.

Holly pulled Cerise and Lizzie toward the table. Courtley (who had been lurking around Eddie the entire night) grabbed his wrist and encouraged him to come along, dragging him through a large group of people on the fencing team. She floated down a little closer to the game. One by one, the students selected drinks -

Silently, Faybelle thought a cheer;

 _“Flames of fury flying far_ _  
_ _go into the wizard’s jar.”_

A goblet sparked briefly, and luckily it caught Eddie’s eye. “Why, _hello_ there -” He took a big gulp. “Hmm. A tad spicy. I like it, Briar! Where did you - “

Before he could complete his query, he coughed, emitting smoke. “Oh, excuse - _whoa_!” A stream of fire flew out,  causing the other guests to duck in alarm. Waving his arms, he raced for the door.

“Wow.” Briar looked in the punchbowl. “That’s new. I’m going to see how he did that - I mean, if he’s okay - C’mon Cedar!”

“Maybe not the best of ideas.” Cedar gestured to all of her. “Wood.”

As a group rushed after him, Faybelle lowered herself to just above Courtley’s head. “It’s me.” She said quietly. “The sooner you get that wand, the better, I’m almost out of juice here.”

“Not to worry -” With a flourish, Courtley dragged the thin wand out of her sleeve. “I got it while I was dragging him through that crowd. Was that fire breathing bit _your_ doing? That was tops!”

“C’mon, get to the doors - not that one, _those_ , the side ones, those that Poppy and Holly came through.” They carefully avoided the dancing crowd and crept closer to the door -

“Courtley!” Holly was suddenly there, streamers now wrapped around her arms. “Where are you going? Is everything okay?”

“Wha - oh, oh yes, no problems here!” She grinned nervously, trying subtlely to put the wand away. “Just ah....”

“Where’s Faybelle? Is she here?” Holly looked back toward the crowd. “I didn’t see her.”

 _Well, of course not._ The girl in question crossed her invisible arms.

“No...you didn’t - _she_ wasn’t invited.”

“Wasn’t in - but that’s impossible.” Gasped Holly. “I know, because when we wrote the list, Poppy put her right at the top. And then she crossed her out after - _the little incident_. But we put her back!” She began to walk away. “Oh no...poor Faybelle!”

“Didja hear that? They wanted you t’come all along!” Hooted Courtley. “Ain’t that sweet...bet ya still gonna go through with your plan, huh?”

Faybelle blinked. “Yeah. You...read my mind.” They headed outside of the double doors and began to prepare. For some reason, it had come as no surprise they wanted her here but had neglected to pass along an invitation - somehow, they _always_ got lost. But Holly’s deep shock that she had been forgotten _was_ new - she had seemed quite upset.

It was too late to go back on the plan now - and even so, it wasn’t like it was a _dangerous_ plan. In fact, it would certainly be something to remember, especially after she unveiled her fabelous present. It had taken a few minutes to maneuver the giant gift into position from its hiding spot into the hallway but finally they were ready.

"Thank you everybody for coming!" Poppy was at Melody's booth, speaking into the microphone, over a slightly dull beat. "We appreciate it so much, you guys are the best." The partygoers indulged in cheer. "There's a pretty hefty amount of presents in the other room, so we're going to open a few of them." She gestured to her left, where some had been brought out before Faybelle and Courtley had sprung into action.

From the other side of the doors. Faybelle grew more and more impatient as the two opened the gifts of jewelry, magic artifacts, a new typewriter for Holly, colorfully patterned scarves for Poppy. _Lame, lame, lame. Enough of this._ She turned to her sidekick and pushed the door open slightly.

“Alright, Court... _now_.”

The music shut off immediately, right before the softly twinkling fairy light powered down. Everyone looked around in confusion. Suddenly, said lights were glowing alternatives of acid green and electric blue, accompanied by a strong wind that shook the opaque, glittering fabrics from the wall and had them flapping noisily. The balcony doors banged around with a noisy clatter.

Holly stood beside Poppy, looking up in awe and fear, knowing what - _who_ \- was to come.

A booming voice echoed throughout the hall. “ _‘Nearly all of Book End is here’, she said. Nearly all - but not quite!”_ The side doors opened slowly, spewing thick white smoke. “ _Not an invitation to be found!”_

Faybelle, in her glittering dark majesty, flew slowly through the doors, invisible no more. She looked down at the terrified group with a cold expression. “ _And not one person here thought to let me know - except Briar, Duchess, and Ginger, true associates instead of the prissy wimps you surround yourself with.”_ She clenched her right hand, and blue magic energy flared to life before being launched at the chandelier, causing it to spark and jump across the surface. The crowd pressed against the walls, trying to hide under the still jolting fabrics.

“ _I thought we had at least moved past our problems to ... maybe not friendship. Grudging respect, maybe.”_

“We did!” Poppy shouted, a strange look on her face - _Was she trying not to laugh_? “We just -”

Faybelle flew backward into the clouds of smoke, out of sight. _“I - don’t - CARE.”_ She yelled, causing the punch bowl to shatter and spill its contents. “ _I don’t! And now, I only have one thing to tell you ....”_

A few seconds passed, then Faybelle and Courtley walked forward with something tall and rectangular under a tarp and a large easel. “ _THERE - I mean -”_ She coughed. “There. Happy Birthday.” she finished, returning to her normal voice.

There was stunned silence, then Holly rushed forward and embraced her in a hug as the crowd broke out into relieved applause. “Oh - you really had me going!”

“Me too!” Yelled someone in the back, and everyone laughed.

Faybelle stiffened, but found it in herself to return the hug. “That’s my thing. Not get invited, crash anyway.”

“But you _were_ invited.” Poppy grinned at her. “Maybe not in the way you _thought_ , but I knew that if I invited Courtley, you wouldn’t be far behind.”

Faybelle backed away and looked at her through narrowed eyes. “Clever, O’Hair. Really clever. With such an entrance as that, you can’t just _not_ open my present in front of all these people. No, no, you’ll probably ruin it.” She flew up to the top and grabbed the tarp, removing it with a flourish. “Happy Birthday!”

Noises of astonishment were heard at the restored painting. People pressed forward to see the great detailing in the plants, hair, and faces, flowing around the siblings, who were completely shocked.

“Oh...Godmother, oh, Poppy, look!” Holly had her sister’s arm in a vice grip as she dragged her closer. “It’s us! It’s Mom, do you see? Faybelle fixed up that painting!” There were tears in the corners of her eyes. She reached out and dragged a finger down her mother's identical hair.

Poppy instead recoiled. “I ... see that, Hol.”  She was staring hard at her mother’s face - and didn’t look very excited to Faybelle. “I - I - _what made you do this_?” Her shout was directed at Faybelle, eyes only showing shock and anger.

She blinked back in surprise. “It was in the cellar when I was picking through your junk.” Faybelle replied slowly. “It can go in your hallway with the other princess pictures! What’s your deal?”

Poppy freed herself from Holly and backed away. “It was there for a reason -” With an exasperated wave of her hands and a mumble of  “Thanks.”, she pushed through the crowd and ran out of the hall. The partygoers looked after her and back at Faybelle - not in hate or scorn for once, but surprise.

She landed beside Holly. “Did I...do something wrong? Accidentally, this time.”

“It’s...complicated.” The remaining princess took Faybelle’s hand into both of hers, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “But really, thank you _so_ much. I - I never thought I’d see her again - a-as she was _supposed_ to be. I think I’d better go - help Poppy.” She ran toward the door. “Everyone, _please_ keep going! We’ll be right back!”

Faybelle’s wings drooped slightly. “I - I really thought she would like it.” Her voice was uncharacteristically sad. “Well, all that trouble, and for _what_? So her mother left - ”

“Who would want to be reminded of that?” Apple had come over, looking closely at the art. “It’s a beautiful painting, and I have no doubt that - for once - your heart was in the right place. But ....” She put her hands on her hips and sighed. “We don’t _all_ have spelltacular relationships with our parents, especially the Legacy ones.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” The words sounded hollow. It was pretty obvious Holly and Poppy had a peculiar viewpoint about their mother from the conversation she spied on that she didn’t know the depth of.

“You didn’t. Remember to turn the flash off, Blondie.” She stepped to the side as the girl appeared with her Mirrorpad.

Courtley peeked from around the painting. “Is it over? Did we do good?”

Instead of responding, Faybelle waved her off and flew out of the room.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's such an awkward little bit left...might as well post all of it. There you go, thanks for reading!

Floating easily down the stairs on the right, she went back toward the entrance. Photographers were still waiting and a flashbulb frenzy went off as she appeared. She posed, smiled, and mocked casting spells at them before she shoved past them and looked up and down the street.

Sitting on the sidewalk near the residential areas, Holly had her arm around her sister, talking quietly. No one noticed Faybelle approach as she hid behind a bush shaped like a giant toad.

“ ..... didn’t know, okay? Believe me, if Faybelle wanted to hurt you, that’s  _ not _ how she would have done it.”

A sniff. “It was just the cherry on the irony sundae, you know? First Nona couldn’t come, and then - seeing  _ her _ face -” Her voice was muffled now. “That’s not the mother I wanted to see tonight.”

After a moment of silence, Holly continued. “I mean...I’m going to be Rapunzel. Aren’t you proud of me?”

“You know I am. I’ve never been prouder of anyone I’ve known or anything I’ve created. But it’s not about that destiny. It’s about the woman who abandoned us until Nona found us. And for  _ what _ ? What was she looking for that was  _ so _ important? To leave her children when we were toddlers?” Then came racking, heartfelt sobs.

Sometimes, Faybelle went days without seeing her mother as she oversaw their evil empire, and that was annoying enough when she wanted to go shopping or look for hikers to curse. But she had always come back, to study the family history with her daughter or just to  _ be _ with her. Even if it was mostly unintentional, hearing her friend cry so hard over something she did felt something stir within her - it was that  _ guilt _ thing again.

She shook the bush-toad slightly to let them know she was there, walking around and sitting down next to Poppy, who didn’t notice. Holly’s eyes widened and she smiled in appreciation.  They sat silently for awhile. “You don’t blame Faybelle, do you?”

“...No. She didn’t know. How could she?”

“That’s the spirit.” Poppy jumped when Faybelle spoke. Suddenly put on the spot, she stammered out the barest bones of an apology. “Pops....I - I should have thought about that idea more. There was a reason it was in that basement -”

“No, you didn’t know.” She gave her a watery smile. “But I appreciate you coming to apologize.”

“I - you’re welcome.” She didn’t know what kind of response she would get telling them that she had overheard their private conversation with Apple so many days ago. “I found it when I was cleaning the shop, and couldn’t think of anything else to give you two. So me and Courtley went in, got it, and took it to the art club and got it fixed up.”

The silence lingered. “Barring, you know,  _ everything _ ...it is a pretty painting, isn’t it Poppy?” Holly prompted.

She nodded. “It really is even though you robbed us.” She couldn’t help laughing. “You stole our painting - kind of like a movie I saw -”

“For a good cause!...good intentions. That didn’t quite work.” Faybelle stood up. “I can’t do this anymore, it’s  _ grimy _ on that ground, get up you two. We’re going back. Come on!” After all, it was still their birthday, with other - hopefully less upsetting - presents to open, cakes to cut, and dances to do. She picked up her phone and dialed Courtley. “Tell Blondie to get her entire crew on that dance floor - absolutely  _ everyone _ in Ever After is gonna see this party.”

 

The party went on until a bit past midnight - the town curfew had been extended, and plenty of girls with time-sensitive curses placed upon them hid in the bathroom until their dresses could be changed. Faybelle fell into bed exhausted but strangely elated.  _ My present definitely made the biggest splash - even if it wasn’t what I intended. At least we’re friends still. _

The next day dawned bright and early, a sleepy haze still enveloping the school. A rhythmic buzz - Faybelle reached automatically for her phone, where there was a single hext from Poppy -  _ Breakfast at Mother Goose’s. Something important to ask. _

“So important you couldn’t tell me over the phone.” but she got ready anyway.

Even the town was still barely awake as she stepped foot into the brunch cafe. Poppy was sitting at a table in the corner, sadly looking out of the window.

“Thanks for hexting me  _ so _ early.” Faybelle said in fake impatience as she sat down and waved at a waiter. “Mint tea - unless you’ve got white ginger.”

“You came, didn’t you? Thanks.” She poked at her quiche, uninterested. “And thanks for coming last night too - like I knew you would.”

“Sure.” The silence was annoying. “Did you have something to  _ tell _ me, perhaps?”

A deep breath. “You know, when I saw that painting, I was shocked. Angry. I had never wanted to see it again and didn’t expect anyone to find it. Nona had commissioned it way back when, but - all the subjects didn’t stick around long enough. I would have left it at home if she and Holly hadn’t insisted on lugging it with us to school. So I shoved it away.”

Faybelle just shrugged awkwardly.  _ Ok _ .

“But I thought a lot about it - that was the first time in three years I looked at my mother’s face. And maybe I’m being too hasty, but seeing her - as she was last seen - helped me to make a decision. A-and I know - for possibly the first time in your life - that you  _ didn’t _ mean any harm in giving it to us.”

The waiter returned. “We’ve been through this.” Faybelle said, taking the teacup and saucer.

“Since we still have that Request - from you to us - I think I know a better gift you could give me.” Poppy took a deep breath and leaned over her breakfast quiche, staring at Faybelle, who took a sip of tea.

“Shoot.”

“Get this; Spring Break. Me and Holly, you and Courtley, possibly Darling -”

She feigned surprise, having a feeling about what was coming next. “A mineral spa weekend? I’d  _ love _ to! Provided they have fairy help. Not just anyone is going to touch my wings”

A quick smile. “No...no. I want you to help us find our mother.” 

They both blinked at each other, Poppy in steely determination and Faybelle in vague confusion.

Poppy continued. “I haven’t actually written it on the contract - I could force you to do this, but - as _friends_ \- I wanted to  _ ask _ you first.”

Faybelle folded her hands and looked at the table. “The mother who abandoned you? Or do you have another.”

Idle shrugging. “Rapunzel. More or less.”

“If I say no - is that it? No magic agreement?”

Poppy grimaced. “That’s it. No hard feelings. Think about it - please - I know it’s dangerous - but it’s been thirteen  _ years- _ ”

 She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair.“ _Enough_ , O’Hair, I don’t have to _think about it_. Dark beings of magic usually have their ear on the pulse of anything...I could at least point you on your way.”

A grateful smile; “If that’s the best I can hope for -”

Faybelle held up a hand, while reaching for her Mirrorphone. “ _ But _ ... they’d eat you alive without one of their own among them. So, in order to actually  _ get _ anywhere, I’d  _ have _ to come with you.” She didn’t let Poppy see, but she was scrolling through her out of school contacts - assassins, necromancers, lesser fairy royalty. “Alright, Poppy. Let's go find a lost princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it, five months worth of writing. Don't expect the sequel anytime sooner than maybe September, but I do have shorter stories in the pipeline for summer!


End file.
